Masquerade

Author's Note:. The main supernatural male pairings are Madera x Izuna and Sasuke x Naruto. The primary focus will be on Madera x Izuna. If any of those things bother you, you might want to turn back now. Reviews are always appreciated and I hope you enjoy this story.

Chapter Notation: Izuna has been reincarnated. So while they are "soul brothers," they are not biologically related. Thus Izuna will have a different last name. Warning the descriptions of Halloween decorations are fairly graphic and disturbing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and make no profit off of any of my fanfics. I just couldn't resist starting a Halloween story because it is October. ;)

Chapter One

It was Halloween and Izuna was just now striding into the luxury hotel where the most highly anticipated social event of the season was about to begin. The Sharingan Masquerade was considered by almost everyone to be the grandest Halloween celebration that was hosted in Chicago. You weren't getting in unless you were filthy rich or invited by someone who was.

There were all sorts of unconfirmed rumors about what went on in the Amaterasu Hotel. There was a very specific reason why this was the case. Everyone who entered had to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

"Welcome. I hope you enjoy the Masquerade." A young woman who was dressed up as a sexy bunny says as Izuna hands her his ticket.

If you told anyone what happened during the Masquerade, your ass was going to get sued for every penny you had. Izuna privately thought that was a little excessive, but he couldn't deny that it was a very clever marketing gimmick. Even people who hated Halloween were just dying to know what really went on behind closed doors at this celebration.

"Thank you. I'm sure I will." He replies with a charming smile.

It was a smile that he had practiced a great deal. Izuna Kyosan was only twenty-four and already owned his own company. It was a very successful chain of martial arts studios.

Unlike many of the other guests, Izuna hadn't been born wealthy. No, he had to fight and claw for what he had. When he had first gone to the bank with his business proposal, the only real asset that he had besides his intelligence was his smile.

"If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask. Madara likes to make sure that his guests are well taken care of." The bunny continues and Izuna nods his head politely at the not so subtle offer.

In reality, he knew that his success was due partially to luck. Izuna was lucky that the banker had been a woman. His business plan was exceptional, but he was realistic. He knew that no one really wanted to take a chance on some broke college kid. No, it had definitely been his smile that had sealed the deal. (And many other deals after that.)

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." He says with a wink and heads off.

Poor woman. She was rather cute, but she was simply barking up the wrong tree. The young businessman was gay. Oh he adored most women. Izuna just wasn't sexually attracted to them.

"I wonder how they managed to make this all look so realistic." He whispers to himself as he looked around in awe.

Somehow the interior of the building had been transformed to look exactly like a gothic castle. Even the walls looked like they were made out of depressing gray stone. There were cobwebs everywhere. Chained to the wall at various points were skeletons, prisoners, and in some cases rather looking dummies that were designed to look like rotting corpses.

That was just for starters though. Blood had been splattered everywhere at random. It was spilled over the walls and floors in a horrifically vivid display of pretend gore.

It didn't stop there though. Izuna discovered not even the ceiling had been spared, once he looks up. The beautiful old fashioned chandelier had caught his eye. It was made of the finest glass, though it's beauty was marred by the fact that bloody handprints surrounded the ceiling next to it.

"Oh it ain't fake blood. That's how!" Izuna hears someone say and grab his arm.

He whirls around and bites back a scream. Apparently those weren't dummies. Those were actors. It took all his self-control not to scream his head off.

"I have to admit that I'm impressed. Normally, most people run screaming when that happens or try to smack the actor." He hears a masculine velvety voice call out.

"Thank you. I must confess that I almost did." Izuna replies and turns around to see who was speaking to him.

Izuna blinks. Wow. He towered over most of the other people in the room. His hair was as black as raven's feathers and reminded him of a lion. It reached all the way to his shapely backside in spiky strands, giving him a completely feral appearance. And that was just his hair.

He had a very subtle tan. His eyes were blacker than a starless night sky and he possessed ruggedly handsome facial features. The man had dawned a black samurai outfit with red armor over it. In addition, the man was carrying a massive scythe, sword, and some type of fanlike weapon. It all looked so realistic. For a second, Izuna felt like he had stepped inside a time machine and gone back to the Warring States Era.

"But you didn't. Bravery isn't the absence of fear. It is finding a way to continue on, in spite of it. I'm Madara by the way." The man introduces himself.

"Izuna. Pleasure to meet you." He says and sticks out his hand for a handshake.

Madara looks as if he had been struck. He actually takes a step or two back. Izuna?! His brother?

He mentally slaps himself. Lots of people were probably named Izuna. It didn't actually mean anything. Still the vampire couldn't help but glance a little more closely at the other man.

"Are you alright?" He asks when he realizes no handshake was forthcoming.

"Oh yes. I'm fine. One of the zombies just looked a bit too real, I suppose. Pleasure to meet you, Izuna." Madara says and surprises the businessman by shaking his hand.

He was wearing a beautiful royal blue male kimono. The silk fabric flattered his ivory cream colored skin and lithe muscles. He was built like a leopard. All sleek muscle. Madara would compare his own build to that of a lion in comparison.

His skin was moonlight pale. Izuna's eyes were startlingly familiar though. Coal black and disturbingly elegant. Madara couldn't see anything else though. The man was wearing an ANBU fox mask. Izuna also had a sword attached to his hip. How fitting, that he had dressed up as an ANBU. Could it really be him? Had Izuna been reincarnated?

"Likewise." He says smoothly.

Sasuke watches from a distance. He had dressed himself up as a Knight for the occasion. Looking at the man who was shaking Madara's hand, was almost like looking in a mirror.

Well it would have been like looking in a mirror, if his body had been allowed to advance beyond the physical age of 19. He was permanently frozen in time as a teenager.

"You look concerned." Itachi whispers to his younger brother.

"I have every reason to be. Look at who Madara is talking to." Sasuke replies.

While Sasuke had been turned at 19, Itachi had at least made it to 25 before being turned. Thus his elder brother could usually enter a club or order a drink without being carded over and over again. The lucky bastard.

Itachi looks. He blinks. Of course, he had seen portraits of Madara's brother over the years. But he had never met the man. Izuna had died during the Ninja Era. It was disturbing to see a slightly older double of his brother walking around. Unsettling really.

"Do you think it's a reincarnation or just someone that looks like him?" The elder Uchiha brother dares himself to ask under his breath.

Sasuke's keen vampire hearing heard it though. He pauses and considers the question. The resemblance was so striking that he was reluctant to pawn it off to coincidence. Still he didn't want to say that the human was a reincarnation and find out that he wasn't later on. That would crush Madara.

"I don't know." He admits honestly.

"Perhaps we should step in." Itachi suggests and Sasuke shakes his head.

He didn't know if that was actually Izuna's reincarnation or not, but he did know one thing for sure. Madara wouldn't take kindly to them interfering. The vampire loved them as much as he was capable of loving anyone at this point. But Madara would always choose his Izuna over anyone else, even them.

"Not a good idea and you know why." Sasuke says.

Itachi sighs and nods in agreement. He loved his little brother fiercely, even if he was foolish sometimes. But in this case, he was correct. If they intervened, it wouldn't end well.

"I guess all we can do is watch. Speaking of watching, there is a certain blonde that has been eyeing you all night." The elder vampire muses.

Sasuke glances at Itach in annoyance. He might have been dressed up in an angel costume, but he was no angel. The younger Uchiha was damn sure that his brother was delighting in teasing him about his…situation.

It was a grand costume. Beautiful black angel wings, a white robe, and a black masquerade mask. He also had a scythe.

"Remind me again, why you resist him so?" Itachi asks with a chuckle.

In contrast, Sauske had striven for anonymity. Sasuke wore a helmet to cover his face. But even with that on, Nauto still recognized him. It would be touching, if it wasn't so annoying.

"Oh just fuck you, Itachi." Sasuke grumbles and Itachi chuckles as the raven haired vampire tries to slip off without the blonde noticing.

Meanwhile Izuna continues to look at Madara after the actor left. He felt like he had seen him somewhere before. Well other than on the cover of various magazines and on the news. Something inside him told him that he should know this man, but he couldn't recall any other instance of meeting him face to face before.

It was strange. He didn't know whether to be excited or alarmed by this feeling. Maybe his hesitation showed on his face because the man decides to offer him a lifeline.

"So Izuna. Tell me, what do you do? You must be rather successful to be able to afford a ticket here." Madara says.

"What makes you think that? I wouldn't be the first Plus One to your events. Your reputation for throwing grand celebrations does proceed you." He inquires in amusement.

"Oh I know you came here alone. No one who was on your arm would have been foolish enough to leave you alone like this. No. You aren't anyone's date. You got here on your own merit and not just because you fluttered those eyelashes of yours at someone." The older man says.

Izuna raises an eyebrow at the eyelash remark. He didn't feel as though he was being insulted exactly. Though Madara was clearly teasing him to some extent. He wasn't entirely certain if the other man was flirting or not.

"Perhaps I am here with someone and they are just less possessive than you. If someone truly loves you, you shouldn't have to fear leaving them in a room alone with other attractive people. They wouldn't stray. If they do, they aren't worth the effort anyway." He muses as he grabs a glass of champagne from one of the trays a waitress was carrying.

"I suppose that's true. Though if your lover isn't willing to fight for you, then the reverse is true." He says.

"I suppose that's one way to look at it. This is an odd conversation to have for a first meeting. To answer your question, I own a chain of martial arts studios." He says and sips his champagne.

Madara smirks. Maybe it really was his brother. Even in the modern era, Izuna couldn't resist a good fight it seemed. He tried to tell himself not to get too excited, but it was no use.

"I'm rather fond of martial arts myself. Though you know what they say. Those that can't do, teach. Is that the case with yourself?" He inquires.

"I think that was a challenge. I assure you that I wouldn't open martial arts studios, if I didn't know exactly what I was doing." The other man says and puts his drink down.

"Perhaps we should spar together sometime. Just for fun of course." Madara continues.

"Maybe. Though I imagine you must be a rather busy person. Running a place like this can't be easy and I know it's far from your only business venture." The Fox ANBU states.

He tries to hide his smirk. Madara knew that he was failing miserably at it though. This had to be Izuna. He was very good at fishing for information, while using flattery. Unfortunately, that was an art that he just had never been particularly gifted in.

Madara had always been the more blunt of the two of them. Hashirama had remarked on this more than once. Hell even their own father had pointed that out on numerous occasions.

"Oh haven't you heard? All work and no play makes one become rather dull. I always schedule time for more pleasurable endeavors." He says.

Izuna blinks. Well there was no mistaking that for anything, but a flirtation. Rather bold flirtation at that. The "ninja" might as well have said, "I bend you over my office desk in between meetings. What do you think?"

"Well that's good. Far too many successful young men and women work themselves into an early grave. It's good to be industrious, but you only live once." The younger man replies with a smile and was completely unaware of the irony of his statement.

Well at least Izuna thought he was younger. It was hard to tell these days. He estimated Madara to be in his late twenties. He doubted he was over thirty, though mid twenties wasn't impossible. He blamed the mane. That's what made guessing his true age so difficult. Yeah, that was it.

"That's true. Would you like me to give you the full tour of our little masquerade?" The other man inquires.

"Well I wouldn't want to keep you from your other guests. It'd be rude of me to monopolize your time, but the offer is tempting." Izuna states.

Who would have thought that Madara was gay or at least bisexual? Definitely not Izuna. Whenever he had seen the man's picture or image on the screen, the only word that came to mind was Alpha.

Idly, he smacks himself for stereotyping. He could just be a really dominant gay man. Strike that. Extremely dominant.

"Oh don't worry. I'll make sure to greet them properly. I wouldn't ever dream of neglecting my guests." The hotel owner assures him.

Madara didn't know why he was making advances towards the possible reincarnation of his beloved late brother. It might have been a purely subconscious decision on his part. Izuna might be more willing to listen to him, if he liked him.

That and he had plausible deniability. If Izuna called him on it, Madara hadn't said anything couldn't be interpreted as platonic. (Well if you squinted hard enough anyway.)

"I would hope not. That would be a very fast way to go out of business." Izuna says dryly.

"I'm touched that you are so concerned for my financial well-being." He muses and heads off with the other man.

A few minutes later they were in a room that was set up to be like a dungeon. Izuna's eyes widen. Some of those ancient torture devices looked far too realistic. They had to be convincing replicas, right?

"It takes quite a bit of skill to find pieces that look so authentic, but I find it worth the effort." His companion says.

"Yes. They do look very authentic." Izuna agrees.

Those chains looked positively Medieval. There was a replica of a rack that had once been used to torture people into giving confessions by stretching them until they could no longer bare it. There were also some devices that Izuna couldn't identify, but he knew torture devices when he saw them.

None of this appeared to disturb the guests though. A zombie bride was kissing her ghost date rather passionately. It seemed that PDA was not off limits. Then again, few things were when you had the kind of fuck you money that was required to purchase a ticket to this event.

"No one's shy here." The human muses.

"Definitely not. Are you?" His new "friend" inquires.

"I wouldn't say that I'm a full blown exhibitionist, but I don't see anything wrong with kissing and things of that nature. Though I do draw the line at having a zombie shove their tongue halfway down my throat." He states in amusement.

Madara chuckles. Izuna always did have a rather sly sense of humor. He had a way of making people feel at ease, even when he was mocking them.

"Well it is good to set boundaries. Goodness knows that my youngest son tries. He just has a rather…aggressive suitor." He chuckles.

"Your youngest son? How old are you? Thirty at most? There's no possible way that you could have a son old enough to be dating." Izuna asks.

Madara knew that would easily become an issue. Sasuke and Itachi weren't his sons, but they were family. Technically they were his descendents. He had lost track of how many greats there were between them. No matter how distance, they were still blood and that was all that mattered.

"Their adopted. Had I been less financially secure, I'm certain that my age would have raised more eyebrows. But money has a way of making things easier, especially when it comes to our legal system." He replies.

He had formally adopted them awhile ago. It had made quite a splash in the press at one point. It wasn't every day that a young wealth business executive adopted a thirteen year old boy and seven year old.

He had a cover story though. He was able to forge papers that "proved" Fugaku was his brother. Thus the fact that he was already related to them, made it easier for him to adopt the kids. He had waited a few years and then changed them. After all, 12 years to a vampire? Nothing.

"Yes, that's certainly true. Usually it's not something that I would celebrate, but I am happy that it worked out well for you." The fox ANBU responds.

"Thank you. They are good boys. Sasuke can be a little stubborn, but I admire his spirit. Itachi is such an academic and a pacifist. If they didn't look so much alike, I would wonder sometimes if they shared the same parents." Madara chuckles.

"How old age they?" Izuna asks curiously.

"Itachi is 25. He's the eldest. Sasuke is 19." He replies offhandedly.

Izuna blinks. What the fuck? How old was Madara? Maybe he was older than he looked.

"If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" The younger man inquires.

"Thirty. I was 18 when I adopted them. I was fortunate to inherit quite a bit of money and you know the rest." He says.

The business owner tries to process that. An eighteen year old had adopted two boys, presumably straight out of high school. Madness. How had he ever managed?

"They are my brother's sons. He and his wife were killed in a car crash. I felt that I owed it to them. Besides, I could afford to hire the best care for them. I might not have known what I was doing more than half of the time, but the nannies certainly did." He explains.

"Oh. Well that makes sense. Still that's quite a responsibility for someone who was barely out of high school to assume, even with the help." Izuna observes.

Madara smiles. Izuna had always had a soft spot for kids. He wasn't entirely certain if this really was Izuna's reincarnation, but it was looking more likely. He was going to have to have a witch confirm or disprove his theory though. It was going to drive him mad in the meantime.

"As much as I would like to claim to be altruistic, I'm not half the hero that you are making me out to be." The feral haired man warns him.

"Let me guess. You only used them to pick up women?" His "brother" asks him playfully.

Madara raises an eyebrow. He wondered if Izuna actually thought he was straight or if he was just being coy. It was hard to tell. If this he knew for certain this was Izuna, he would say it was the latter. Unfortunately, he did not know this to be the case.

"Had that been my intention, I would not have used them to attract women. I think you are more than perceptive enough to realize where my tastes lay." The other man states bluntly.

"You were never really one for subtly, were you?" Izuna inquires in amusement.

The vampire shakes his head no. He wasn't. Why would he waste time beating around the bush? He was powerful enough to take whatever he wanted at this stage in his life.

"No. Though I imagine that you are." He replies.

Madara's nose twitches. An elder vampire had just walked in. One that he was very familiar with and didn't take much pleasure in dealing with.

Quite honestly, he would have preferred to stake him and be done with it. It was really such a pity that such an action would have been unwise. You could even argue that it would have been foolish. No, Orochimaru was far too valuable to kill.

"If you'll excuse me for one moment, I think I see an old friend of mine. I shall be back shortly." Madara says and strides off.

Izuna nods. He watches as the other man heads off. The businessman bites his lower lip and debates if he should continue speaking with Madara or not.

He wasn't an idiot. Madara was definitely attracted to him. He weighs the pros and cons. The pros were obvious. The hotel owner was attractive, they were roughly the same age, he was successful, and they both enjoyed martial arts. The cons were also obvious. The man was clearly a possessive lover and a very public figure. It would very much be an all or nothing relationship, if it lasted more than one night.

As flirtatious as Madara was, he didn't get the impression that the older man was into one night stands. Usually by the time people hit thirty, they tended to be less intrigued by that possibility in his experience. Of course there were exceptions.

"Orochimaru, you had best have a very good reason for interrupting my Masquerade." Madara hisses at him so quietly that only the two vampires would be able to hear it.

"Oh I do. Someone's been changing humans into vampires and letting them run around on the street. I had to clean up seven fresh kills this morning. All of them were drained of blood. I don't think it was just one newly changed vampire. There were at least three distinct scents." The other vampire informs him.

Madara blinks. That was not good news. There were very specific laws in place for turning humans into vampires. One of the most obvious ones was, don't let your "childe" leave a trail of bodies behind them. Wonderful. Now, he had to figure out who wasn't following the rules and punish them.