Been wanting to do a CIA-esque Naruto fanfic for a while now…. I just had to get this out of my chest so I can continue full on with 'Altered' I'll be writing this along-side it because sometimes, I need a breather from the drama fic. (Altered will, most likely, be finished before this fic because I love that fic as if it was my child, and is already sequenced out; whereas this one isn't as planned out.)

Read and Review, guys =)

Chapter 1: Whirlwind Meets A Volcano

Every guy has three women in his life that he holds in high regard. One would be his mother, obviously. Another is that one best friend who is different from the rest in terms of gender— his girl best friend. The one he turns to for advice when all his male friends give him useless recommendation that revolve around beer and strippers. And lastly, the third one, is his girlfriend.

Now, many know of the conflicts between the mother and girlfriend, especially if she is to be the man's future bride. Many stories were written, movies made… But, there is also the never ending battle that doesn't gather much attention: the war between the girlfriend and the girl best friend.

Sometimes, if the guy is lucky, the two get along well and will cultivate quite a close relationship with each other. But, in some unlucky cases, the two end-up hating each other and will more often than not try to kill each other while the guy isn't looking; though the worst they could do was pull each other's hair.

Sadly, Uchiha Sasuke's case was the latter with a few more misfortunes thrown in for good measure. Because as if to make matters worse, his girlfriend and girl best friend were actually capable of killing each other. You see, they were all highly trained agents of Konoha's elite ANBU organization. He had two warring trained-to-kill agents in his hands. And the fact that they were licenced to kill did not help the situation at all.

X

The two females stood rigidly in front of each other both trying their best to intimidate each other although they were both quite unyielding. Sasuke walked in between them although teetering more on the right side where a redhead stood, glaring at the person opposite her. His steady gaze met Sakura's for a split second before opening his mouth to speak the words she wished weren't true. "Sakura, this is my girlfriend."

The moment those words echoed out of his mouth, the war was on.

9 pm, Location: The Blue Fin, Mission Type: Recon

They were seated in a table that was far away from the hustle and bustle of the restaurant; just a little off the corner of the wall. It gave them not just seclusion, but the entire view of the vicinity.

Bored eyes scanned the place for a waitress to take their orders. "Where the fuck is she?" a female voice boomed, her deep voice cutting through the silence like a knife. She shifted her irritated gaze to the male who was seated in front of her.

"We just got here, she'll come any minute now." He saw her eyes roll and smirked at her reaction. "Tayuya, you're being a lot more hostile than usual today." It was voiced as a mere stating of the obvious but the girl in front of him knew that this was his own way of asking her if anything was wrong.

"I hate your best friend."

X

"I'm telling you, Ino! She was gross and MANLY." Sakura rambled as she spooned some ice cream into her mouth, glaring at the wall in the process. Her best friend was dating a demonic entity of some sort and she was not going to take it lightly. "She was glaring at me as if she wanted to eat me!"

Ino rolled her eyes at her friend's choice of words. "I doubt she'd find you delicious." The blonde muttered, yelping when Sakura had thrown a fist in her direction. "Forehead!" The girl yelled as she caught the rosette head's fisted hand. "You bash my face in, I'll break your nose!"

"You sound just like that she-male! I bet you'd get along nicely!" Sakura spat, yanking her fist out of Ino's grasp and returning the screen in front of her. "You sure this isn't just for the mission?" she heard the blonde ask from behind her chair.

The enraged pink-haired female gave her a look of utter annoyance. "Positive." She spat.

X

11 hours prior to mission, location: Main ANBU headquarters level three: Medical Unit

Sakura grinned at the scowling young man in front of her. "It's just muscle weight, you loser." She mumbled.

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" a male asked, giving the scale a once over before stepping off and standing next to his friend who nodded. "Yes, it means you've gotten more muscle. Why are you so worried? Afraid you won't fit into size your 2 jeans?" the young woman remarked sarcastically, granting a hostile stare from the young man next to her.

"Sakura." He growled and stepped closer so that he towered darkly over her to prove that he had taken the jab personally; his onyx eyes seemed to darken further as he glared at her. Said girl held her hands up in surrender and walked to the bed. She patted the mattress lightly indicating for him to sit on it. Sakura didn't bother to check if he followed her silent instruction, she knew he'd sit.

"I'm just curious as to why you're being overly sensitive about your weight." She explained, looking over from her shoulder to cast him an innocent look before turning back to grab her stethoscope from the tray that held her medical tools. "You aren't one to fret over the weighing scale dial."

Sakura heard a sigh and raised an eyebrow as she turned to him, awaiting his explanation. "My captain is very meticulous about his men's physical condition. He checks every damned week and if there is even the slightest change that we can't explain, he'll automatically think something is wrong."

"Like what, exactly?"

Sasuke shrugged. "That we're slacking off or something as equally wrong,"

The man was one for morals? Sakura couldn't help but let out a snort. "Considering what we do is morally correct. 'Coz you know, having a licence to kill is ethically right." Sakura stated sarcastically. "Breathe in for me." She added, pressing the cold contraption to Sasuke's bare chest that moved slightly when he obeyed her and took a deep breathe.

"Technically your dad hasn't been captain for quite some time now." Sakura quipped, giving Sasuke a grin that he matched with a small smirk. "The geezer's having a tough time letting it go. He still has me call him captain." He shook his head, ignoring when Sakura moved the stethoscope to his back. "He wasn't even a captain anymore when I joined ANBU."

"Blood pressure." Sakura mentioned, holding her hand out for his arm. He complied without arguing and watched her strap on the Velcro band across his right upper arm. "Give him a break. I guess he must've loved his job."

"Considering he was at it for most my childhood—yes, he loved his job." Sakura gave her 'patient' a small smile and a pat on the shoulder before marking his blood pressure onto her chart. Sasuke's father had been one of the best platoon captains in ANBU history. Of course, this came with a price. He'd missed half of his eldest son's childhood and almost all of Sasuke's. This caused an obvious rift between the two and had even been responsible for Sasuke's rebellion during his early years.

Sakura racked her mind for a different topic, having a pissed Sasuke in a room filled with sharp objects wasn't the smartest idea. "Have you had your shot?" she asked him; eyeing the continuous blank spots under the 'soldier shot' column of his chart. He shook his head in response.

"You're a year due." Sakura stated in a condescending tone.

"You were busy."

"There are other medics that could've done it. You know… the ones who are full-time medics. Not part-time like me. Uchiha, you know I'm an active agent." Sakura scolded the Uchiha, her hands finding their way to her hips as she continued to relentlessly chastise the young man for skipping his shots. These soldier shots made sure that agents sustained enough energy even if the agent was not properly rested and fed. It also boosted an agent's response to injury, giving them more time than a regular person to get medical assistance if they were injured or poisoned. If something had gone wrong during the period wherein Sasuke missed his shot, he could've died or if not, suffered some serious damage.

"You've missed two shots! Sasuke, you know you need the shots every six months! How were you still put on the field?!"

"Just give me the shot." He grumbled, brushing her question aside as if it held no gravity; like it was an inquiry on the weather. What Sakura didn't know wouldn't hurt her. She'd actually most likely hurt him, if she found out how he'd gotten away with not getting any shots. His eyes met her green ones and watched them narrow at his blunt order.

"What am I, your bitch?" she exclaimed, grabbing the syringe with the largest needle from a tray and held it up. Sakura smiled at the Uchiha's mild look of discomfort at the humungous piece of sharp metal; she was irked with how rude his tone was after all. "That's what you signed up for when you became my best friend." She heard him say.

Sakura poked the needle into his arm and squeezed out the serum a sadistic smirk forming on her lips when she saw Sasuke flinch ever so slightly. "I thought that was what a girlfriend was for."

"Who needs a girlfriend when you have a best friend?"

Sakura bit back a laugh, nearly dropping the syringe to the floor the moment she pulled the needle out of Sasuke's outstretched arm. "I don't think Naruto wouldn't be happy to hear that. Technically you just said having a best friend was like having a girlfriend. He's still not over that kiss you guys had; best friend or not, I'm pretty sure he'd kill you if you said that to his face." This time she laughed at the memory of two of her best friends kissing while they were attending their first ANBU 'fresh blood' seminar.

"That was an accident. And you know what I just said didn't involve him." Sakura slapped the part of his upper arm where she'd previously stuck a needle into and grinned when the young man jumped a little; a mixture of shock and pain on his face.

"Check-up's over." Sakura declared, throwing his shirt at his face. Sasuke caught the fabric seconds before it hit his nose and quickly slipped it over his head. "Speaking of girlfriend…" he started eyeing his only female best friend who'd perked up at the word 'girlfriend'. Really, why was everybody so curious about his dating life? It bothered him to no end that people were constantly trying to guess who he was dating. "I'm—

"Are you guys fucking done? Because I would like to have my check-up before the end of the year." A deep gravelly, yet somewhat feminine, voice echoed from the door. "Tayuya." Sakura read from her chart before glancing at the young woman who was scowling by the door.

She had long red-orange hair that hit her mid-back; contrasting her porcelain white skin and black rimmed brown eyes. Her pretty face, even though it was set in a scowl at the moment, was framed by hair her and covered slightly due to a few strands of hair that draped down the left side of her face.

Sakura's eyes travelled down Tayuya's slim but lean body; it was very much like her own. Sakura lifted a brow, noticing that though Tayuya looked hardened and trained—almost manly, even. She still maintained an air of femininity; though Sakura noticed, it was only there when she wanted it to be and she seemed to 'switch it off' most of the time. For example, now and probably 99 percent of the time.

"I haven't seen you before." Sakura murmured, trying to place the face of the girl in front of her. She'd never seen her walking around the building before. "We don't get assigned the same missions then." The red head replied rudely, as if Sakura wasn't high ranking enough to be assigned a mission with her. Sakura abandoned her attempt at polite conversation and hardened her stare. "Sasuke-kun, I'll see you later." Her tone was steely, her eyes still on Tayuya's smirking face, as she addressed the Uchiha who'd previously been seated awkwardly on the bed, watching the two interact. It was safe to say that the two did not get along at all.

"Hn." He murmured before leaving the two alone.

Tayuya's brown eyes followed Sasuke out of the room and when he was completely out of her sight, she walked to the bed and plopped down with an air of authority that pushed Sakura's temper to the edge. "Get to work, will you?"

Sakura glared at the fiery haired female but turned it down a couple of notches; trying to control her anger. She didn't want to risk stabbing the girl with a thermometer in the eye. "Have you had your shot yet?" she asked, the sentence coming out choppy due to her grit teeth.

"Nope." Tayuya answered, popping the 'p'. Sakura sighed. She suddenly wished that she hadn't used the biggest needle on Sasuke.

9 hours prior to mission. Location: ANBU mess hall, floor two.

Sakura slammed her lunch tray next to Naruto's half-empty one and slid into the blue plastic chair he'd saved for her. The two had agreed to meet at the ANBU mess hall for lunch despite the on-going rumours that the sushi they served was 40% rubber. "Why the hostility?" Naruto asked.

"Annoying little she-male over at the hospital wing." Sakura ground out, stabbing her sushi with one of her chopsticks; her eyes widened slightly when the wooden stick, instead of piercing through the fish, bounced back. "You know, I think the sushi here really is 40% rubber."

She heard Naruto make an 'Eeww' sound and push his tray away. "Next time, we're going to floor five. They have better food over there." Floor two was the general mess hall; floor five had one too but was reserved for the higher ranking officers. "Why do we even go here?" he questioned his friend with an annoyed face. He thought they'd graduated from this mess hall ever since their promotions, why were they still having lunch in this food-impaired place?

"We eat here because no one we actually work eats here. Perfect opportunity to talk about them." Sakura answered in a matter-of-factly tone. "Technically, it's so you can talk about them." Naruto corrected, sighing after, at the thought of his wasted lunch hour.

"Are you going to let me rant or what?" Sakura demanded, glaring at the blonde. Naruto grinned sheepishly. "My bad, my bad….Go on." He wasn't a push over; Sakura just looked like she wanted to kill someone when she was pissed, and getting caught in the crossfire didn't look appealing to him right now.

"I'm one for being badass and all. But this girl was just…ugh! I can't even explain how rude and arrogant she was." Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "Kinda sounds like teme, don't you think?"

"Uzumaki, I'm going to shove this fish-rubber hybrid down your throat and watch you choke." Naruto wiped the grin off his face immediately at the sound of Sakura's tone; he was pretty sure she meant that threat.

"She doesn't happen to have red hair, a hot bod and a really foul mouth does she?" Sakura gave him a menacing scowl. "Her bod." She said emphasizing the last word and adding air quotes. "is manly, don't you see how broad her shoulders are? Aside from that, you got her description right."

Naruto checked his watch and gave his brooding friend a light pat on the back. "That's Tayuya. And," he leaned in close so his breath was on her ear. "I hate to break it to you, but she is hot. I've got all the men here to back that statement up."

"I wouldn't be throwing around that statement around casually if I were you. Hinata wouldn't appreciate it." Sakura quipped, glaring at the blonde who stood up to leave. Naruto's head turned to the right slightly and spoke to Sakura; his gaze still at something to her right. Sakura watched his face break into a sly smile. "Speaking of Tayuya," he called out; throwing a thumb towards the direction he was currently looking.

Sakura whipped her head around just in time to see a familiar arm wrap around the red head's shoulders. Her eyes would have literally bulged out of their sockets had she not controlled her shock. She'd just seen that arm earlier this morning. It was Uchiha Sasuke's arm wrapped around Tayuya's shoulders possessively. "I-Is that…"

"So this was what he wanted to tell me." Naruto mused lightly to himself. Sakura's shoulders shook with anger at his devil-may-care tone; why—How was he so calm about this? "Ja, Sakura-chan." She heard him say.

She kept her gaze locked on the couple as they walked to an empty table. Sakura's mind wandered through every agent she'd seen in headquarters and none of the faces belonged to her. Was she knew; an exchange of some sort? These weren't rare; ANBU has formed alliances with other agencies and go through frequent agent swaps; both temporary and permanent. Just recently, Sakura was sent to the Suna Special Ops headquarters, ran by Gaara, for a year-long medical program. Had ANBU done the same and had gotten Tayuya as an exchange?

Sakura smirked. "It was time for a little digging."

5 hours prior to mission, location: 10th floor, Head ANBU Captain's office.

Itachi stared at people gathered around his desk. "We received a mission from Tsunade-sama." He stated; not bothering to beat around the bush. "A recon mission." He added, answering the question that they all had in their minds.

Dark eyes scanned the room, landing on Sakura who stood erectly. "Your mentor has a knack for giving spur of the moment missions." Itachi's deep baritone echoed; a hint of frustration tinging his tone as he addressed Sakura.

The girl just shrugged apologetically. "Tsunade was the head of ANBU; the one with connections to the Hokage himself and was in charge of the whole organization. The busty woman also headed the medical department, seeing as that was her field of choice before being placed in the seat of power. She was a busy woman and sometimes impromptu missions happened.

"I'll make a note to tell her that."

Sakura saw the older Uchiha glare at her slightly at her mocking tone. He waved her off with a flick of his hand and muttered a 'nevermind.'

"What are the mission details?" Sakura heard one of her comrades ask. She turned around and discovered it was Sasuke.

"You and Tayuya are to keep tabs on this man." Itachi slide a folder out onto the desk for Sasuke to look at. The younger Uchiha picked the folder up and glanced at the man's profile; his eyes gliding through the man's description before flipping the page and looking at his picture.

"Pass it around." Itachi said boredly; as if the object was a toy that should be shared with everyone. Sakura wondered if this sort of thing was already second nature to him. She continued to stare at Sasuke before the shoulder was shoved under her nose. "Do you want to see it or not?"

Sakura glared at Tayuya who'd almost smacked the folder onto her face. The rosette haired agent tugged the file from the red head's grip harshly before opening the folder.

Name: Hitori Kyo

Height: 5'5

Hair color: brown

Age: 25

Affiliation: Uncertain

Criminal Record: Is known to be part of a massive drug ring led by an unknown yet powerful group of highly secretive mafia members; considered very dangerous. Has a track record of kidnapping and murder; wanted in every country.

"Every nation?" Sakura exclaimed, eyeing a black and white picture of young looking man, taken from a security camera of a restaurant somewhere in Kirigakure. The man was in a trench coat, looking over his back. He didn't look like someone who'd be wanted in every country at all.

"We've been trying to catch this drug ring for ages. But just when we think we've nipped it at the head, the leader proves us wrong. He's slippery; that man, whoever the hell he is." Itachi sounded genuinely angry. "Hatake Kakashi has been on this case since it popped up two years ago. He even had to give his position of Head ANBU captain to me to focus on this case; a case whose trail ran cold six months ago."

"This is the first lead in six months?" Tayuya asked; shocked at the lack of progress. Itachi nodded grimly. "This man is higher up the rankings than any of the men we've caught. He could be the one to lead us to the leader."

Sasuke and Sakura voiced out the same question. "Doesn't this seem too easy?" Sasuke walked forward and slid the folder back to his older brother. "A trail that turned cold, come alive again in a snap? Doesn't that seem off to you?"

"At this point, we're desperate for anything on these guys." Sakura nodded, understanding their current predicament. They weren't dealing with an ordinary thug with a penchant for banned pharmaceuticals; this certain drug lord has established himself in the underground world quite well and was responsible for many disturbing disappearances and murders of both civilian and agent alike. Heck his delivery boy was wanted in every country, that alone spoke of the power this man held.

"He is to arrive at the Blue Fin at 9 o clock pm." Itachi turned to Sakura first but shifted his gaze to Tayuya instead; Sakura felt her shoulders drop an inch. Was he really going to pick Tayuya over her? "You and Sasuke are to watch him from the restaurant." The rosette clenched her jaw; guess he did pick the red-headed wench over her.

"Sakura, you are to monitor the Hitori from the nearby hotel room. Sasuke and Tayuya will feed you a direct video from their eye cameras. Have Yamanaka come with you, I want her to read his actions, and if Morini Ibiki did a good job with her, it'll be a breeze."

The three nodded as they absorbed the instructions. Itachi checked his watch. "You have three hours to prepare before show time." He smirked at his inside joke. "Wear something nice, Otouto."

Sakura, who'd been on her way out, turned back to look at the Head Anbu Captain, "Kakashi-sensei," she started. "Is head of this case," Itachi continued for her. "You three are officially part of this case and will be reporting to him."

1 hour prior to mission, location: Room 845-C, 8th floor of The Château Le Blanc

"He is late!" Sakura yelled, checking her watch again for what was probably the twentieth time. "A lead after six months and he's STILL LATE?"

Tayuya entered the room in a haltered, black floor-length evening gown and narrowed her heavily smoked out eyes at her. "Will you shut up? He'll be here soon." She growled, curling back her nude toned lips, courtesy of Sakura's make-up bag. "You shouting won't make him get here faster. And it's very hard to focus with you blabbering."

Sakura raised an elegant brow at the red-head who'd stepped out of the bathroom. "Why, you nervous or something?" she chided childishly. Tayuya rolled her eyes. "Oh please, I never get nervous." She smirked. "What about you? Last time I checked, all you could do is give people their shots."

"Remind me to let you bleed to death when you have a bullet in you." Sakura growled. She was Tsunade's only apprentice besides Shizune. Her skills as a medic were quite renowned; her fighting and field skills weren't chopped liver either. She was trained under Hatake Kakashi's tutelage, along with Naruto and Sasuke, when she was recruited at the age of 12. She'd accomplished and gone through so much, how dare this newcomer belittle her?

Tayuya threw a hostile glare at her. "I'll put a bullet in you." she spat, her eyes narrowing when Sakura smirked. "I'll have the candelabra, on that table, up your ass before you can even reach for your gun."

Just before the two could make good on their threats, Sasuke opened the door and strode in, glancing at each girl before walking to center of the room, teetering slightly toward Tayuya's side. He watched Sakura's glare intensify and the girl beside him smirk. He was walking into a cold war with news that could probably ignite it.

"Sakura, I meant to tell you earlier." He said slowly, waiting for the said girl's glare to simmer—it didn't. Tayuya rose an eyebrow at his slight pause of hesitation. "Sakura, this is my girlfriend."

The look on his best friend's eyes said it all; the war has begun.

Sakura and Ino stared at the screen boredly. "So he told you just now?" Ino asked, quickly throwing her friend a questioning look. "Yep."

"How long have they been dating?"

"No idea."

And that moment, as the two sat watching the screen that displayed what the two agents who were undercover saw, Sakura grabbed her phone and typed in a short message before sending it to Sasuke.

X

His phone vibrated in his pocket. Sasuke stopped glancing around the restaurant for their target to quickly open and read the text message he'd received.

Text Msg from Sakura: 'I hate your girlfriend.

LOVE IT

HATE IT?

SHOULD I CONTINUE IT OR…

A/N: Let me know if you guys want me to continue it. I kind of like it, actually…. Anyway, I hope to post chapter four of 'Altered' soon. I just needed a break from the drama =) My Ballet Exam is a month away…wish me luck guys!

This was typed during one of my late-night moments. I wanted this story out of my head so I posted without much editing. Sorry if there were some mistakes, I'll do a once-over and edit later. This was just so the idea is out, I need my focus for 'Altered'