Life in Konoha's ANBU by Shezza

Chapter 35: The Device

"Hey, Towa!"

Towa looked up. His arm was bare, the seals tattooed into his flesh glowing ominously, and he held a glowing crossbow in his hands, held together by black squiggly lines that extended from his arm into his palm and bright, scarlet light. Uchiha Sasuke stood on the other side of the clearing, his brow damp with perspiration.

"Yeah, Captain?" The ANBU agent called back. Unlike his younger counterpart, he seemed completely at ease.

Surveying them both was Naruto and the rest of his squad, resting on the lower branches of one of the many gigantic trees nestled deep in the centre of Training Ground 74. The young blonde looked rather carefree as he sat on the branch, his legs swaying to and fro underneath him. Next to him sat Yamanaka Yuuka, the cheery blonde girl lying down and using his leg as a pillow as she reading from a book. Kage was sitting in the branch opposite him, carefully polishing his favourite dull-black machete, and Komachi and Daichi were two branches above them, engaged in a game of cards.

"Sasuke's a big boy now," Naruto answered. He scratched his head, grinning cheekily, and he gave the older ANBU agent a wink. "Why don't you try the hard stuff?"

Towa faked a look of surprise. "The hard stuff?" He looked over at Sasuke, who had narrowed his eyes as he watched them converse. "I dunno, sir. He doesn't look ready for the hard stuff?"

"You sure?" Naruto sounded doubtful. "Hey, Sasuke!" he called. "You ready for the hard stuff?"

The Uchiha glanced up at him wearily, well used to the bright and cheery attitude Naruto took when the young captain was about to put him through hell. He shrugged his shoulders silently, his sharingan slowly spinning in his eyes.

"See? He's ready," Naruto declared confidently. He waved off Towa's concerns with a dismissive brush of his hand. "Totally try the hard stuff. If he can't handle it, I'll handle all the paperwork."

"Yeah, right," Towa snorted. He folded his arms. "You said that about Beetle, and in the end I had to explain to HQ why our new ANBU recruit dropped out."

"Who's Beetle?" Sasuke interjected, looking surprised.

"Oh, Beetle? He was our last recruit," Naruto lied with a brilliant smile. He paused, adopting a look of thought, and bought his finger up to his lip contemplatively. "He also said that he could handle the hard stuff."

"He couldn't," Kage muttered quietly, although it was audible enough for the rest of the team to hear. "Limbs weren't meant to bend that way."

"Some parts went this way, some parts went that way..." Yuuka giggled, then made a whoosh noise and threw out her hands. "He totally couldn't handle the hard stuff, boss, and he looked a lot tougher than Sasuke."

Sasuke's right eye was twitching.

"Stop it," Naruto ordered sternly, and he rapped Yuuka lightly on the head with the back of his hand. He gave Sasuke an encouraging smile. "Don't worry. Just because you had soft, silky hair, and delicate, pale skin, and pretty-boy hands-"

"And wears a peacock mask," Daichi called up from above.

"And wears a peacock mask," Naruto agreed. "Just because you don't look tough doesn't mean that you aren't. I'm sure you can take it." He paused. "Maybe."

Sasuke was reigning in his temper well, but his displeasure flashed through his eyes. Nonetheless, when he turned back to Towa, his shoulders were raised and his jaw locked out of sheer stubbornness and pride. Towa nodded approvingly, and then raised his arm. With a metallic hiss, the seals on his arm shot out into his palm, and from it formed a crossbow of scarlet light. The ANBU agent raised it and nodded as Sasuke.