Hollow-man

Insanely Good Liar

Summary: Naruto is only 17, and he's already targeted by the government, a group of terrorists, and an invisible naked man. Life just can't get any sweeter. [SasuNaru AU]

A series of rumbling from the author: This won't be by the film!

I like bad-ass semes. Like Sasuke. He's yummy. Naruto will fall in love with Sasuke's bad-ass behavior. Not body or face. Aww…! (Insert chocolate-covered-heart here)

(Izzy, I hope this is the 'flesh' you were talking about.)

Enjoy the story!

::bows::

"The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart."

-Unknown

Prologue

000

(The Way of the Assassin)

One in every 12 million is a hit-man.

And only one out of five is like Haku. He was one of the older-fashioned, sword-wielding, silent men that were like a rose in a bush of thrones.

He was special. A true, cold-blooded snake.

Zabuza still remembered his taste. The way his fingers slid down and up, dancing on his body. The silent murmurs, the pleading… it was so long ago, but he presumed that it never left Haku's mind as well.

Today, Haku was wearing a beautiful olive-colored Yukata. It had green little spirals on it. His hair was tied into a neat ponytail, flipping behind him as he walked and greeted the guests. He looked like a girl, but for some odd reason Zabuza had never minded how he looks, and the guests too didn't seem to mind.

Zabuza turned his stare to the women beside him. How completely unattractive.

He rolled his eyes at her smile, and took a sip of his cocktail.

It took him about an hour to actually stumble (completely accidentally and very intentionally) into Haku. Well, not exactly stumble, they barely touched, Haku's nimble body avoided his body rather gracefully.

"Zabuza."

"Haku."

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Haku's famous fake smile stretched on his lovely pale face.

"Yes. It has." Zabuza was a careful man. His piercing glare was flawless, he mastered it years ago. Another thing he'd mastered was never to trust somebody from his business. After all, he would have never trusted himself, either.

"Aoi Rakusho."

"Abumi Zaku."

"Have a nice stay, then." Haku smiled, and with a flutter of butterfly and a smile that can win prizes rushed to his previous matters.

Zabuza, however, knew that more than anything – you should never trust an assassin.

Twenty minutes later he found himself heading to the restroom. He reassured himself he had one too many tequilas, as he stomped around the chattering and clinking of glasses. His eyes burned the guests, sending them narrow glares as he escaped to the corridor.

Really, he hated social gatherings.

He blinked when he felt something hard connect his jaw. He stumbled on the wall, and looked around… nothing.

Odd. He just felt like somebody punched him.

Next time it came it was below his jaw, sending his body up. Afterwards a kick and he fall on top of a waiter-boy that passed him by.

"Sir…?" he asked.

Now, Zabuza was no fool. Did Haku slipped something into his drink? Maybe he's hallucinating? He could feel the metallic taste of blood after the punch in the gut.

Somebody pushed him hard on the wall. Then on the bench. Kicked his balls, too hard.

He felt like puking.

"Sir, are you alright?" The waiter asked, but was sent flying to the counter wall. He knocked down the tray he was carrying, sending all the glasses flying.

Zabuza blinked when another punch came, and somebody – heck, something! – held his collar.

The shard of cold glass that still smelled like tequila was held to his neck.

"Where. Is. Itachi. Uchiha?" A voice hissed above him.

Something was wrong. Definitely. There was nobody there! A hallow air. Nothing.

"W-who-"

This time he was kicked into wood. And it hurt his back, goddammit.

The door's lock couldn't simply take it, and budged, sending him flying into a dark room.

His nose was bleeding, because he felt something hot on his mouth.

The room was dark, but surprisingly he could see everything.

Blinking in the darkness, Haku looked puzzled.

The beautiful assassin was wielding a bloody sword, Yukata half untied, slipping off his blood drenched shoulder. His hair was ruffled and it glowed from the lights in the window. Beside him, the body of Gatou, the man Zabuza had been ordered to kill.

"Late yet again," Haku smirked, on his bloody face Zabuza could see his eyes hazy with pleasure.

He growled, and was about to get up when something threw him out of the room into another door, which wasn't even locked. He blinked into the ceramics of toilet. His jaw was broken.

"Where is he?!" The voice roared.

When Zabuza didn't reply, trying to get an idea of the thing's location, he was shoved into a window. It stung so bad, his whole upper body was cut. He couldn't see in one eye.

"Well…?" It urged.

"He hasn't contacted me in months—" he took his time to take slow breathes. He could feel the wind beneath him. He was on like, what, the twelfth floor? "From… what I heard the Akatsuki fell apart—"

"I care shit about the rest of them. Where is Itachi?"

"I-I don't know-"

"Bullshit, you're his personal assassin!"

"I… I don't know where he is! I swear! I've been taking jobs from others for half a year now!"

"Fine, then. Say hello to my mother in heavens!" he was pushed further out the window.

"W-wait!"

There was a pause. The hard breathing stopped.

"There's this kid… Minato's son… He invented it. Itachi wants him… He invented it, that's all I know, I swear!"

"Name."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Good."

Zabuza fell to the floor.

Saved.

"You may be invisible, but Itachi Uchiha is nothing you want to deal with." He warned.

There was a chuckle. "I know how to deal with my brother, Zabuza."

Was it boring? Did it intrigue you? Where were my mistakes? What was making you roll your eyes? Why did you smile, or laughed? Review and tell me about it. I'm more than happy to hear you out.

Fortunately for you, this was 'beta'ed by Cheerful-Pessimist, whom I love and cherish. ::huggles::