Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Borderlands.

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Blood and Bullets

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Chapter Nine

"Naruto? Are you sure about this? I mean, I have a shield, so..." Maya paused as she looked herself over again, a little uncertain. "Don't you think the armor is a bit much?"

She was now dressed in a pair of tight-fitting black cargo pants with the leggings tucked into black knee-high combat boots, a black long-sleeve skin-tight top with black bullet-proof armor plating covering the entire left arm from her wrist up to her shoulder along with the right forearm from wrist to elbow, a set of black body armor over her torso almost identical to Naruto's own, black gloves on her hands with black metal plates on her knuckles and on the back of her hands, black armor plating strapped to the sides and front of her thighs for added protection, black armored pads on her knees and right elbow, a black metal face mask like Naruto's placed over her mouth and nose, and a storage device attached to her belt behind either hip.

"Hm...I kind of like it. Makes you look dangerous. In a sexy way." Gaige commented with a cheeky grin from the hood of the Titan, sitting on it while Naruto leaned against the side of it from in front of the driver side tire. Laughing quietly at the red head's words, Naruto shook his head slightly.

"It's necessary, Maya. Your primary shield won't be able to handle everything all the time. Besides, the armor on your left arm has a secondary shield generator built into it, but it's for emergency uses only and it has to be used actively unlike your current one." Naruto explained. "The face mask has a built in filtration system to clean out poisons, toxins, and various other things in the air around you and it also acts as a rebreather should you somehow end up underwater. However, it only lasts for a total of three minutes before it shuts off. Luckily, it just takes a moment for it to switch out the 'used' air with fresh air and it doesn't require any maintenance unless damaged. Also, I think you'll be pleased to find out that the thermo-bands built into the clothes are much better than the ones in your old outfit, so you won't be getting cold out here like you used to and they have a secondary function as cryo-bands to keep you cool in hot climates like the Dead Sands and all."

"...I was wondering why I wasn't shivering..." Maya mumbled quietly as she looked herself over again, kind of surprised by the superior design of her new gear. Still parked out in front of the headquarters of the now annihilated militia of 'mobile bandits', Naruto couldn't help admiring the craftsmanship of the armor; Panzer did a really good job with the equipment, considering it was a very hasty rush job. Done in only two hours, Maya's new outfit would have originally taken almost twelve for the master armor-smith to make. Then again, Naruto had brought a good bit of materials for him to use along with enough information on Maya's measurements that it shaved a few hours off the work. "Now, if you two are done staring at me like I'm some kind of fashion model, can we get going again?"

"Hehe...Yeah, come on." Naruto agreed before getting back into the Titan. Once the two women got in as well, Naruto passed the Titan's manual to Maya; more like blatantly dropped it in her lap, making her grunt from the weight of the object. "Get to studying, Maya. We got a long trip ahead of us, so don't complain."

"Jerk..." Maya grumbled, reluctantly opening the obscenly thick book and searching for the section on the turret controls. Gaige started giggling at her friend's plight from the back seat, only for Naruto to brake-check her, sending her to the floor since there weren't any seat belts in the back.

"Heeey..." She whined while climbing back onto the seat, rubbing her sore nose after smashing it against the back of the bench seat in front of her. Naruto simply grinned fiendishly from behind his mask, ignoring the pointed look from Maya and the childish pout from the younger red head.

"Sorry..." He apologized half-heartedly. "Thought I saw a skag..."

Both women knew it was a lie and a blatant one at that, but didn't say anything lest they were cursed with some other form of 'torture' from the blonde...

xXx

"I hate you..." Maya growled out, exaggerating her exhaustion, both physical and mental, as she slumped in the seat, leaning against the door lazily as she gave the blonde in question a half-hearted scathing glare, the instruction manual sitting between them. "I love you, but I hate you so much right now..."

"You're just mad because I made you read a book that didn't involve smut." Naruto remarked casually before taking a drag of his cigarette. In response, Maya's eyes widened in shock and sudden nervousness, her cheeks burning heatedly as she started glaring at him more fiercely, unable to believe he would just blurt out her second favourite past-time right in front of Gaige. Naruto didn't even glance at her, his goggles set over his eyes as he kept the window rolled down and his mask pulled down, ashing his cigarette through the armored slats. "Don't give me that look. You know it's true."

"Asshole..." Maya grumbled while lightly kicking her boyfriend in the ribs, her shoes lying on the floor while she stretched out on the seat. Arms and chin perched on the back of the bench seat, Gaige continued watching the two as if she were watching her favorite cartoon show with a giddy grin on her face. Seriously, she wished she had a video camera or something to record them for later viewing. She always did like old re-runs. Huffing, Maya nudged Naruto in the side with her toes again. "Hey...How much longer until we reach Sawtooth?"

"Not much longer." He responded, though his eyes narrowed slightly as he spotted several columns of black smoke rising over the mountain ridge ahead of them. Almost instantly, he grabbed Maya's ankle and pushed her legs aside, forcing her to sit up as he took one last drag of his cigarette before pushing it out the window and rolling it back up. "Something's not right."

"What? What do you mean?" Gaige questioned as Naruto activated the combat systems in the truck, the slats folding down and the control panels extending from the dashboard while Maya strapped herself down with the harness. Slowing the truck down until it came to a halt, Naruto tapped the holographic image on the windshield to zoom in on the smoke columns.

"A few years ago, after you guys came through here and cleared out the previous occupiers of Sawtooth...some friends of mine came in and took control of the Buzzard Nest under the guise of being bandits, but kept to themselves mostly." Naruto explained, referring to the Storm Raiders as 'friends' since he wasn't so keen on dragging another person into the 'shadow war', something he already hadn't quite forgiven himself for doing with Maya. "They pretty much acted as peace keepers in the area, but since no one really lived out in the area, they were just watchmen. That large smoke column? That's where the Buzzard Nest is located."

"Wait...You think the Guardsmen are here?" Maya questioned in shock, getting a stoic nod from Naruto. Gingerly gripping the joy-stick to the turret under her control, Maya steeled her resolve and gripped the controls more firmly, looking around the area with it to check for any kind of threat in the immediate area. Behind them, however, Gaige was thoroughly confused.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell is going on? Who are these 'Guardsmen' people?" The Mecromancer inquired, glancing back and forth between the two older individuals. Titan still idling, Naruto gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter.

"Think of the Crimson Lance and Hyperion put together; a lot of soldiers with top of the line equipment led by a madman hellbent on bringing about chaos." Naruto growled out quietly before checking the satellite feed and zooming in on their general area. Locating what looked like an old abandoned building a few miles away, Naruto started driving towards it, deciding to set up camp for the 'night'. "Anyways, the Guardsmen have the same goal as the last two factions; the Vaults. And, like both prior times, a Siren is needed to open them, but they aren't going for a 'normal' Vault like the last two..."

"What do you mean, Naruto?" Maya questioned, eyes narrowed slightly out of suspicioun and confusion. "I thought all the Vaults here on Pandora had been found."

"..." Naruto remained silent, however, as he turned the truck around and backed up into the run-down garage that looked like it was about to collapse at any second. Switching off the combat systems and turning the truck off, Naruto hopped out while an old Jakobs Bessie sniper rifle digistructed into his hands. "We're camping here for the night. I'll scout out the area while you two get things set up."

"What's his problem this time?" Maya grumbled quietly while getting out of the truck, her blonde haired boyfriend already walking away. As she got out of the Titan with Gaige following behind her a few moments later, said red head decided to voice a thought after hearing the Siren's complaint.

"I don't know very much about him, Maya, but Naruto seems like the kind of guy that doesn't like involving other people in his problems." The Mechromancer commented as they started setting up camp inside the building. Maya gave her a look of confusion and surprise; she wasn't used to the young woman being so insightful and full of admittedly good advice. "Maybe he just doesn't want you worrying about him or for you to get hurt or something, you know?"

"...Maybe you're right." Maya mumbled quietly before glancing out the dirty and broken window beside her, watching as Naruto started making his way up a rocky slope near them for a better bird's eye view of the surrounding area...

xXx

"Guardsmen...By my count, six Fighters, two Juggernauts, and a Tracker." Naruto stated quietly while directing Maya's attention towards the people in question further down the canyon, both tattooed individuals lying on the ground to keep from being spotted. Maya took a moment to examine the 'Tracker's' appearance with the monocular in her hand, her blonde haired boyfriend watching them through the scope of his sniper rifle.

He was clad in solid black cover-alls with light-weight desert camouflage colored armor plating covering most of his body over the body suit, his head covered with a helmet similar to those worn by the Fighters in the same desert camouflage colors as his armor. He had some kind of metal pack mounted to his upper back with two desert camouflage colored orbs the size of baseballs with a single bright blue light on either orb, both attached to the pack behind either of his shoulders. Set along his lower back was some kind of machete-like short sword with the handle sticking out behind his right hip, a digistruct device set on the sides of either of his thighs, and a non-elemental Dahl Strike sniper rifle held in his hands.

"Hm...Only one Praetorian, though." Naruto added in, cutting into Maya's thoughts. Without glancing at him, she could tell he was confused by something just by his tone. "I've been inside those APCs before; there's barely enough room for those Fighters to fit in the back of the thing, let alone a pair of Juggernauts and a Tracker as well. Not only that, but Trackers are also one of the few autonomously operating soldiers in the Guardsmen ranks."

"He must have a vehicle nearby, then." Maya offered, getting a slight grunt of confirmation from Naruto, his right eye narrowing slightly as he zoomed the scope in on the Tracker. If there was one kind of Guardsmen he loathed the most, it was a Tracker. They were the closest thing they had to someone like him; highly skilled in close combat, skilled marksman, stealth-oriented, skilled tracker, and more. He knew his rifle could reach the tricky bastard from their current spot, but doing so would draw attention from the others with the Tracker, which would undoubtedly cause a chain reaction with the Guardsmen. "...What are we going to do?"

"For now, we're going to wait. I want to know how that Tracker is getting around and, if at all possible, find out where he's staying." Naruto responded without taking his attention off the Tracker. "I don't play well with other hunters..."

"I meant about Gaige." Maya muttered a moment later, making Naruto pause, mentally. "She needs to know..."

"No, she doesn't." Naruto returned without looking at her, stressing his decision on the matter to better get his point across. "I'm still on the fence about telling you everything, let alone someone I barely know. Besides, I don't want to involve any more people in this..."

"I knew you weren't telling me everything!" She hissed furiously, keeping her voice down while pointing an accusing finger at him with a scathing glare. Sighing heavily without taking the cross-hairs off the Tracker, Naruto knew she wasn't going to let that part go for a loong while. "Why the hell won't you trust me with what's going on, Naruto?!"

"I've already let you in on what's going on, Maya, so don't start accusing me of not trusting you!" Naruto hissed back, looking away from the scope on his rifle for the first time to glare at her. Maya flinched back from the raw emotion in his eyes, his goggles resting on his forehead at the moment. "If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have gone back to Sanctuary to apologize to you for being an asshole!"

"Then why won't you tell me everything?" Maya questioned, making Naruto pause again and look at the ground that was just inches from his face before looking back up, gazing through his scope again. "...You're not going to tell me, are-"

"I don't want to lose you. Alright?" Naruto cut in, surprising Maya with his response. He was quiet for a few more moments before his eyes narrowed slightly. "He's moving."

Down in the canyon, the Tracker had broken away from the group as they started to clamber into the Praetorian. Naruto watched as the Tracker walked over to the nearest portion of the canyon's rocky cliff faces before a shape started to blur into sight, only for the active camouflage to deactivate fully in flickering bursts, revealing the previously hidden vehicle. Both Naruto's and Maya's eyes widened in surprise, but whereas the Siren simply hadn't seen a vehicle like it before, the blonde Warlock was shocked because while he knew of them, he hadn't seen one.

In Maya's opinion, it looked like a strange hybrid between a Technical and an Outrunner. The low-set chassis was a little longer than an Outrunner and more solid, the engine occupying the space between the front wheels to fill the usual void between the 'arms' with a decently sized cab situated in the middle that seated two, a turret and turret housing set directly behind it for a third person, and a small truck bed placed in the back between the rear wheels. Most of the machine was covered in light to moderate armor plating that had been painted in desert camouflage colors for better stealth when mobile while the four tires looked like they were same thick and deep-ridged all-terrain tires one would find on a Technical. She wasn't very knowledgable about vehicles, but the one that the Tracker was climbing into was most definitely a top-of-the-line military-grade model and one she had, honestly, never seen or heard of before.

Then again, she had been on Pandora for the past few years and it was quite hard to keep with the times on the wasteland planet...

"Son of a bitch! That asshole got his hands on a Dune Ripper before me?!" Naruto growled in jealous anger, his trigger finger twitching like hell as he used every last bit of will power he had to keep from shooting the bastard. "I...I can't fucking believe it! Why do the bad guys always get the good stuff?!"

"..." Maya stayed silent while giving her boyfriend a blank stare. Seriously, he was behaving like a child that was mad someone else had a shinier toy than him. That and she saw no need for him to get a new vehicle, especially one that looked like it was easily three times faster than his current one, if not more so. Sighing, she just stayed silent. Just as the Tracker climbed into the Dune Ripper, Naruto loaded a special bullet into his rifle before taking aim at the vehicle. Timing it just right with a bit of luck on his side, Naruto fired the round at the tail-end of the off-road vehicle just as it whipped around, a GPS tracker stabbing into the rear quarter fender curving over the passenger side tire. A split second later, the small object shimmered faintly before the built-in cloaking device activated and camouflaged it, the object vanishing completely.

"Come on. Let's get going." Naruto ushered quietly while backing away from the edge with Maya following behind him, putting his rifle away as he got up into a crouch and moved further away, not wanting to sillhouette himself against the setting sun and blow their cover prematurely. As they made it back to the Titan where Gaige was waiting for them and climbed in, Maya quickly reached over and punched Naruto in the arm, glaring at him.

"Don't think you're off the hook just yet, asshole!" The Siren growled while the blonde in question grunted something unintelligable while turning the truck on. From her spot in the back seat, Gaige could only glance from one to other in confusion before shrugging. She'd end up finding out sooner or later, so there wasn't any reason to worry about it yet. As they started moving, Gaige noticed the rather tense atmosphere around Maya as she did her best to focus on the screen in front of her while Naruto, on the other hand, wasn't quite so aggrivated...

xXx

After following the Tracker from a decent distance, they eventually came upon a rather remote and small dead-end canyon on the outskirts of Sawtooth. Set at the very back was a shack of a building, the Dune Ripper haphazardly parked beside it. After backing the Titan up into a cave near the canyon's opening and making sure it was well hidden, Naruto retrieved his Bessie sniper rifle and crouched down near the opening of the cave, simply searching for any signs of bandits, Guardsmen, and/or predatory fauna in the immediate area. Back at the truck, Maya was busy checking her weapons to make sure they were fully loaded while Gaige was simply waiting, leaning back against the truck.

"Soo...What was up with you two earlier?" Gaige inquired curiously, yet cautiously. Pausing in checking her Aegis pistol, Maya hesitated in answering her before holstering the weapon.

"We...just had a little disagreement, that's all." Maya mumbled quietly before shutting the truck door and glancing over at Naruto slightly. Seeing Gaige's look, though, made her sigh quietly. "He hasn't been telling me everything."

"And?" Gaige remarked off-handedly, getting a confused look from the Siren. She merely sighed. "Look, I may be younger than you, but I've seen his kind before. They're detached from the world. Those rare few that actually attempt to connect with another person like he has with you, they're going to be incredibly paranoid and nervous about opening up to people. And from what you told me about his past, he's got a pretty good reason for his behaviour. Me? I couldn't care less if he told me what was going on, but not because I barely know him. Hell, I probably trust him more than I do Axton."

"Speaking of Axton...What ever happened to him?" Maya questioned, noticing the slight grimace on Gaige's face; despite being so young, she and Axton had been an item for a bit during the past year, but they were rather...touch and go, last she knew.

"Last time I heard from him, he was in Lynchwood standing in as the sheriff or whatever." Gaige practically spat, glaring off to the side indignantly, but Maya could still pick out the signs of longing for the mentally unbalanced Commando. Besides, even Maya knew that Axton had been the 'acting sheriff' for Lynchwood since they defeated the Warrior and killed Jack; it wasn't exactly a temporary thing for the soldier. "I don't feel like talking about him right now..."

"We need to get moving." Naruto suddenly spoke up as he approached them, unknowingly breaking the tension and distracting them. Without another word, the trio headed out, guns at the ready. Naruto kept his Bessie in his hands, Maya held her Maliwan Venom submachinegun, and Gaige had a Vladof Renegade assault rifle in her hands. Crouching down behind a boulder near the entrance to the canyon, Naruto knew they would have to be careful; Tracker's didn't carry a sniper rifle just because they looked pretty. "We have to be careful. Since I can Phasewalk, I'll stay behind and cover you with my rifle while you two advance. Stick to cover and keep an eye out for any traps; Trackers are crafty and tricky bastards."

"Aye aye, Captain!" Gaige joked lightheartedly despite the tension with a salute and a cheeky grin before peeking out from behind the boulder and quickly making her way to the nearest one further down the path, keeping as low as she could. Naruto didn't react to it. Before she followed after the younger woman, Maya hesitated for a moment. Turning around to face her boyfriend, Maya didn't give him the chance to react as she pulled his mask down and kissed him on the lips. It lasted only a couple seconds and when she was done, she put his mask back on his face before darting out from behind the large rock, trailing after Gaige. A little caught off guard by the sudden and brief kiss, Naruto took a deep breath to calm back down and focus, bracing his rifle on top of the boulder as he looked through the scope, looking around the area for any possible 'bird's nest' positions.

A few minutes later as Maya and Gaige neared the half-way point, Naruto was starting to get suspicious since no shots had been fired and no traps were found in the area. He knew it was damn near impossible to ambush a Tracker, so where was he? Before he could move to join them or contemplate the whereabouts of their target any further, Naruto felt the barrel of a handgun press against the back of his neck. Closing his eyes and sighing quietly, he slowly held his rifle out to the side and propped it against the boulder he had been hiding behind, making sure his hands remained visible at all times so as not to provoke the person into squeezing the trigger.

"My, my...In all the time I've spent in the Guardsmen, I never thought that I'd be the one to finally drag in the corpse of Pandora's Ghost." The Tracker hissed out from behind Naruto, his voice quiet and raspy; a common trait among Trackers. He then chuckled quietly. "You know, my instructor had a thing about you. He made sure we knew you had been the best Tracker to ever grace the Guardsmen. Looks like he was wrong about you if you let yourself get trapped so easily."

"I've got to admit, it was pretty stupid of me...but you were even stupider for not paying more attention to Jaeger's lectures." Naruto mumbled quietly without turning around to face the man. He then scowled behind his mask and goggles. "You should have never gotten so close to me without making sure I was dead first."

"Wha-" The Tracker was cut short when Naruto blinked out of existence in a flash of red light, only to reappear behind him and wrap an arm around his neck, holding him tight. Grabbing the wrist holding the gun, Naruto twisted the joint and squeezed on the tendons, forcing the Guardsman Tracker to drop the pistol before using that same hand to draw one of his knives. Before he could drive the blade into the Tracker's chest through a gap in his body armor, the man managed to grab Naruto's hand at the wrist and postpone his death for just a little while longer while also trying to pry Naruto's arm from around his neck.

Both grunting with effort as they fought to overpower the other, Naruto mentally scolded himself for splitting the group up. Realizing that he was fighting a losing battle at the moment, the Tracker let go of the arm around his neck before driving his elbow into Naruto's side, stunning the blonde just long enough for him to slip free and escape the Ghost's hold. Smacking the knife out of Naruto's hand and sending it skittering and bouncing off the rocks beside them, the Tracker drew his machete-sword, only for Naruto to kick it out of his hand before he could brandish it for a proper swing. Instead of drawing one of his three remaining blades, Naruto struck out with a left hook that caught the Tracker in the jaw before stepping closer and driving an open palm into the man's armored chest with his right hand, knocking the Tracker off his feet and back against another rock.

Before Naruto could press the advantage, the Tracker retrieved a basic grenade and tossed it between them. Eyes going wide, Naruto summoned up his Phaseshield while jumping back to put more distance between him and the grenade, the explosion knocking him back and into the canyon wall from the force while the Tracker slipped away in the brief chaos, vanishing from sight via active camouflage technology built into his armor and basic stealth tactics. Groaning quietly as he picked himself back up, Naruto winced as his back flared with pain and his ears rang from the explosion and collision with the rocky cliff face behind him. Looking around as his Striker shotgun digistructed into his hands, he pressed the stock into his shoulder while pushing past the pain and ringing in his ears, searching for his target as he stumbled a couple steps forward. Seeing no sign of the Tracker, Naruto went to collect his knife and sniper rifle just as Maya and Gaige rushed back to him, having obviously heard the blast.

"What happened?! Are you alright?!" Maya asked worriedly as they stopped in front of him. Suppressing another quiet groan of pain as his back ached, Naruto waved them off, lowering his shotgun as he did.

"The Tracker snuck up on me." Was all he said before sitting on a rock and rubbing the back of his neck, leaving his shotgun laying across his lap. "That bastard's a wily one, that's for sure."

"So...What now?" Gaige asked a bit awkwardly. Naruto was quiet for a few moments and while it was lost on the Mechromancer, Maya was honestly shocked when Naruto retrieved his Unforgiven revolver and loaded a fresh set of bullets into it, stashing the old casings in a storage device for safe-keeping; they had a great deal of sentimental value and held deep emotional ties to his memories of his late father.

"Naruto?" The Siren spoke up a bit nervously as Naruto stood up, storing his rifle and revolver once more. He then turned and started walking away, gesturing for the two women to follow him back towards the canyon's entrance. If there was one thing about Trackers that didn't change, they never strayed from their chosen defensive position. The Tracker they were dealing with now wouldn't set foot outside of the canyon so long as they were nearby or alive, especially after surviving a direct encounter with Pandora's Ghost without a single injury, save for a couple bruises. If he was smart, he'd know he wouldn't be so lucky a second time...

"Come on. I've got another plan." Was all he said, confusing both women and actually making them worry a little bit. He remained silent all the way back to the truck. Opening the back and switching the Hyena Brothers on, Naruto waited another moment to let them clamber out before finally speaking up; the two women, especially Maya, were not happy with what he said next. "There will be no arguing about this; you two are getting out of here."

"WHAT?!" Maya yelled out of anger, shock, and worry for the blonde, but it was mostly anger. Gaige was simply shocked beyond belief and honestly felt like pouting like a child; she was really looking forward to shooting something. Naruto remained absolutely calm despite his girlfriend's fury. "No! You are not doing this to me again, damn it!"

"It wasn't a suggestion, Maya." Naruto responded calmly, if not a bit coldly, as he aimed down the sights of his Unforgiven revolver to make sure it would still shoot straight; a pointless act to avoid looking Maya in the eye. His tone made Maya flinch slightly, having never been around him whenever he gained the 'Eyes of Death' or entered his 'hunter' mental state, both states being one and the same as well as being the state of mind he was in now. "You and Gaige are taking the Titan and heading back to the shack we camped at last night. I will meet you there by sunrise tomorrow."

"Like Hell I-" Maya's indignant declaration of stubborn anger was cut off abruptly when Naruto's hand lashed out quicker than she could blink and gripped her shoulder at the base of her neck, applying pressure to a specific pressure point in the area to knock her unconscious without hurting her. Catching her before she could fall with one arm, Naruto stored his revolver and used his free hand to open up the truck, laying her down across the back seat and shutting the door. He then gave Gaige a side-long glance for a moment as he stood there.

"You know how to drive a stick, right?" Naruto questioned, getting only a very frantic and nervous nod from the shorter and younger red haired female. A moment later, Gaige found the keys to the Titan being placed in her hands. "I already tagged the shack with a GPS marker, so it shouldn't be hard to find your way back...and don't let Maya get her hands on the keys when she wakes up."

"O-Okay..." She stuttered quietly, simply standing there with a dumbfounded look on her face as she watched Naruto walk away. Whistling sharply once, Naruto didn't even bother glancing back to check to see if the twin mechanical beasts he called partners were following him as he headed back towards the canyon. A minute later, he heard the Titan's engine turn over before pulling out of the cave and heading back in the direction they had come from earlier. After reaching the canyon's 'entrance' ten minutes later, Naruto crouched down off to the side with the Hyena Brothers.

"Alright, boys. I need you two to stay here." Naruto mumbled quietly, patting their shoulders a bit firmly as a wordless command to deploy their turrets. "Don't let anything in or out of this canyon until I come back. Alright?"

Both machines simply glanced at one another and tilted their heads slightly when they glanced back at Naruto. Sighing and shaking his head, Naruto patted the top of their heads before standing up. After taking a moment to make sure his mask and goggles were situated on his face properly, he calmly stepped out into the middle of the canyon's yawning mouth, blantantly standing out in the open. He simply stood there for a moment, suddenly realizing why he had gotten the sudden urge to make sure he had an Eridium stone stashed in one of his storage devices; he just might be needing it in a little bit. Taking a few steps in, Naruto's eyes drifted back and forth in search of any sign of his prey. It wasn't until he made it about twenty feet in before he heard the echo of a rifle being fired from a distance and the flicker of a muzzle flare, a bullet striking the ground just inches in front of his feet an instant later, making him stop in his tracks.

'He's on top of the shack...' Naruto noted almost casually before a smirk formed under his mask, his hidden sapphire eyes bleeding into a dark ruby as he tapped into his supernatural Warlock powers. Specifically, his Phasewalk ability. Taking a stop forward, Naruto waited until he saw the glint of light shine off the Tracker's sniper rifle scope before blinking out of sight in a flash of red, a bullet piercing the empty air he had previously been occupying just a split second ago. To keep from tiring himself out too much, Naruto Phasewalked in bursts, zig-zagging across the rocky stretch between him and his target. Ducking in and out from behind boulders of various sizes whenever he wasn't Phasewalking, Naruto could feel the rippling air currents of the bullets being fired at him, something that only spurned him to keep moving.

"Sit still!" The Tracker snarled under his breath as he switched out his third magazine for a fourth in the span of less than a minute, thankful for Dahl weapons usually having high fire rates and, sometimes, burst fire options. He had either been kept out of the loop concering Pandora's Ghost's ability to seemingly teleport or no one had known about it until now, but it was making an already seemingly impossible quest even harder to accomplish; it's not like he had actively sought out the Ghost. They just kind of found each other...Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck started tingling, his instincts screaming at him to move. Thankfully, he listened and rolled over on to his back just in time to block a strange dual-bladed sword with his rifle amidst a burst of crimson energy, the split between the blades catching on the weapon. Gritting his teeth under his mask, the Tracker glared back into the goggle-covered eyes of Pandora's Ghost, his arms straining to hold the blades back. "God...damn it!"

"God wants nothing to do with what happens on this planet..." Naruto growled out quietly, his voice practically a whisper as he gripped the sword handle with both hands, putting as much of his weight on it as possible in an attempt to skewer the Tracker. Before his arms could give out, the Tracker drove his knee into the back of Naruto's thigh, destabilizing him enough for the Guardsman assassin to toss the Ghost off of him, sending him crashing back to the ground a good ten feet down. Groaning quietly as he pushed through the pain and rolled over on to his hands and knees, Naruto snatched his sword back up and Phasewalked back to the top of the shed-like building, only to find the Tracker missing. Again. Gritting his teeth, Naruto was about to lose his temper when he spotted the open hatch near the back. "Slippery little bastard..."

Sheathing his sword, Naruto crouched down next to the opening and drew the twin TMPs from behind his lower back before giving them a quick check; he hadn't used them in a long time, so he wasn't sure if they were fully loaded still or not. Finding everything satisfactory, he turned around so that his back was to the hole in the roof before leaning back and essentially 'falling' into the hatch. Hooking legs on the side ledges of the opening for a moment, Naruto got a split second look ahead and behind the hatch's location as he flipped to his feet in mid-air from the act and landed on his feet in a low crouch, one pistol aimed in one direction and the other in another. No sign of the Tracker, the room lacking in any kind of hiding spot.

A ragged couch was shoved over in one corner with an old, busted up tv and a computer set around it. A couple duffel bags sat next to the couch, most likely filled with weapons, ammunition of various sorts, different pieces of equipment, and possibly an emergency supply of cash; standard Tracker luggage. Not much else in the room worth noting...except for the thick looking metal door in the back that was slightly ajar. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto cautiously made his way to the doorway, checking what he could through the narrow gap. Seeing no sign of any traps, he cautiously opened the door and peered inside. Still no sign of the Tracker...

"Marco..." Naruto called out quietly as he started heading down the tunnel that had been dug out of the dirt and rock of the canyon wall, his eyes and guns constantly scanning the scarcely lit tunnel...

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