Fallen Angel

celestia193's Author's Note: Alright, so this story takes place in roughly...halfway through the 24th century. So we've got a combination of high tech and supernatural elements. But there are a few things to note. The most important of which is how the CIA works. They work by gathering intelligence abroad (for the most part), but they do not retain the power to enforce law and make arrests (at least, they're not legally supposed to). For the purpose of this story, their workings have evolved to include these functions, as well as functions surrounding the committing of international crime by supernatural beings. Seeing as this is set quite a ways into the future...just go with it.

That said, this story is kinda my baby, hence all of the angst that you'll be hit with. I do love my angst, especially when my Uchiha boys are involved. but there will be a happy ending eventually, because Silver would never let me get away with anything less. So sit back, read, and enjoy this latest addition to the Uchihacest persuasion in the Naruto fandom.

Also, this story has been edited furiously more times than I care to admit.

Silver's Author's Note: This is a yaoi story. That means there will be at least one male x male romantic pairing. It is also a collaboration between myself and Celestia193. Oh and in this AU, Sasuke and Itachi are NOT brothers, but they're both Uchihas. If you choose to read this story, I do recommend having a box of tissues ready because there will be several points that will possibly make you cry, but as Celestia said, there will be a happy ending. This story also raises a lot of ethical questions and Sasuke is pretty violent. If any of that bothers you, you might want to turn back now. For those of you still here, we hope you enjoy this story and reviews are always appreciated.

Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto and make no profit off of any of our fanfics.

Chapter 1

Swirling around the drink in his glass, the raven stares absently out across the bar at the room full of people, human and supernatural alike. The soft gold plasma lighting along the walls reflects off the matching amber of his eyes. He wasn't usually much one for drinking, but he could hold his alcohol with the best of them. The best of the humans, anyway. There was no way he was ever going to hold a candle to the vampire bartender across the silver titanium and ancient red oak bar-top from him. His vampire guardian was the one who taught him how to drink, after all.

The deceptively young-looking immortal across from him, as far as Sasuke could tell, was at least four and a half centuries old. The redhead would occasionally let slip a reference to the French Revolution, an old part of history that he'd made sure Sasuke learned about, despite it being old news, to put it lightly.

He didn't mind learning about things that happened in the eighteenth century, but honestly, even the records of the twenty-first century bored him. What were people THINKING electing some of those leaders. If he could find a time-machine and head back, he'd have taken out half the leaders in the first half of the century alone. Not that the twenty-second century had been great, but at least it wasn't the disaster that came before it.

Still, there were a few good things from his friend's youth that he appreciated. Canadian whiskey being one of them. The vampire's tolerance for his extracurriculars…was also a benefit these past few years. The level gaze tinged with a hint of worry, however, was not. "I'm fine, Gaara, there's no need to look at me like that." Again, as was usual for the young-looking vampire.

For a few agonizing seconds, Gaara berates himself for being caught so easily. His emotions really shouldn't be so easily deciphered. He banished that thought as quickly as it had come though. This was Sasuke. Not one of his many intoxicated patrons. "There's every need." It was fine for Sasuke to see through his mask. "Your luck will run out sooner or later." Save for Gaara's siblings, there was no one that the vampire could think of who he trusted more. "You know that. Retire while there is still time."

He knew that he was being hypocritical of course. "I got out and so can you." Granted, the seductive madness of bloodlust that had held Gaara captive for so many decades was a far cry from the other man's personal demons, but to some degree...darkness was darkness. "There's still time. The work that you do is noble, but how do you think your clients would feel if you were to join them?"

At the rate that Sasuke was going, that was an all too real possibility. Honestly, Gaara would prefer the young man join him as a vampire rather than to follow the spirits he assisted to an early grave. Which is what would happen if he didn't stop pushing his luck. The clock was ticking. With every second that passed by, the chances of Sasuke getting caught increased. It was a good thing that Gaara didn't need to breathe anymore and his heart no longer beat, otherwise the Uchiha would have given him a heart attack.

"I can't…you know that." Sasuke's crusade would only end when he saw that man dead at his feet, a vendetta born of the painful deaths of dozens of innocent victims. "That snake is still kicking, and you know that I can't live or die until he's wiped from the face of the earth." It was the only thing keeping him going, and had been for a long time now. Everyone he took down in the process just had it coming as much as that man did.

It wasn't that Gaara had never felt the need for revenge before. He could sympathize with that desire. "After he is dead and buried, will that be enough for you?" He had grown up in a time where the desire for it was as common as the air that he used to breathe, but Sasuke was sowing the seeds of his own demise. They both knew it.

Sasuke tips the last of the whiskey down his throat and laughs bitterly. "I don't know. I guess I'll find out after I cut him to pieces and burn him down inside that torture house of his." He was in no mood for mercy. "Besides, you know that there's always more people out there like him, even if the damn authorities don't know it. They might have ears, but they don't know how to listen." And that just meant more work for him.

"As much as I would love to slaughter all of those types, it's an impossible game." He shakes his head as he looks at Sasuke with sympathy. "One monster will always replace another."

"…I know." He wasn't blind, Sasuke knew how dark society's underbelly could be. That's where he spent his time after all. "But at least I can do something about it. My ears aren't just for decoration, and I don't really mind having a little extra blood on my hands." It was, after all, what he did best. "I know that they'll catch up to me sooner or later, but they haven't yet. And as long as I can take out the snake before they do, I don't care what's done with me." He might go to prison for the rest of his life, or some country might demand he be executed on the spot. But that was fine with him. As long as he accomplished this last goal, nothing else mattered.

"You know, your playing of the part of the martyr is very inconsiderate of you." Gaara sighs as he pours himself a shot of Irish whiskey. "After I went through all that trouble to save you, the least you could do is not rush to an early grave."

"Considering that no one saw you coming, and you had your brother and sister as backup, I don't see how it could have been that much trouble." Not that Sasuke wasn't grateful. He was. Gaara was the best thing to ever happen to him…not that that was a very high bar to begin with, but still. "Though it's not like I asked you to rescue me." Not that he could have asked anyone with the means to. The ghosts couldn't help, after all…well, save for the fact that they'd apparently gone to a vampire hanging out in Montreal and put aside their dislike of the nightwalkers long enough to get the rumor through that a spirit medium was in trouble.

The red head shakes his head. "I hope you find your flower." God knows the man needed to get laid. "Maybe, they'll remove that stick that is shoved so deeply up your posterior and you'll be able to think straight afterward."

Sasuke twitches, his gaze darkening at the mention of the tattoo. "I hope that I never meet them. They'll be better off never knowing I exist." The tattoo had blossomed across his skin when he was thirteen as puberty began taking hold. Stories of soulmates were something he'd put behind him long ago as part of the past that no longer existed, the past in which he had parents who loved him and told him romantic and fantastic stories of the day that he would find his soulmate.

Stories and dreams that were ripped apart by that snake and the parents who handed him over to be a lab rat. All his love had turned to hatred, and his soulmate never came. Only Gaara and his siblings. And how Sasuke wished it were Gaara…it would be so easy if the magnolia on his arm was reflected on Gaara's own.

"You might not see it, but you're more a romantic than I am." Gaara looks at him and sighs. "I hope that you find them before you get yourself killed for being a martyr, Alex." The name felt like poison on his tongue. Gaara knew damn well that wasn't Sasuke's real name. Of course, like everything else about the man, it was carefully crafted. It would have been stupid of him to use his real identity. Hopefully, his 'Flower' would knock some sense into him.

Everyone had two tattoos on their arms that appeared during puberty. One was a clue as to who your greatest enemy would be and the other was a clue about your soulmate. Sasuke's soulmate was signified by, of all things, a fucking flower. Fate could be ironic, sometimes. That was the only explanation that Gaara could come up with for why his friend had a flower tattoo on his arm and not something more, well Sasuke-like.

Sasuke rolls his eyes at the clipped tone. "Don't say my name like that, Gaara." He'd picked it because it was his middle name, because even if it wasn't safer, it felt more natural to pick a name he actually had, instead of someone else's. "And if I wanted to find this flower soulmate, I would have done it a long time ago." It had been seven years now since Gaara had appeared, wrenching the entire wall off of his blindingly bright cage and carted him out and away from Montreal. Seven years of freedom, and not once had he given into the weak temptation of seeking out the one with the matching magnolia that he kept hidden under makeup and long sleeves.

"You're formidable in your own right, but I have no fear of someone who can't think clearly." He smirks at Sasuke. He couldn't resist taunting him. "I was once like you. Blinded by one desire and thought of little else." The desire for blood. "There could be more for you, but you won't allow yourself to have it. Which is a shame because you aren't just punishing yourself." He glances at the flower on Sasuke's arm before getting another shot of whiskey.

"I'm protecting them from me." Sasuke was under no illusions as to what he was, and he doubted that any sane person would be happy with a murderer for a soulmate. Vampires were forgivable, they had a reason to kill, even if they did it very rarely nowadays. But he was human, there was no innate desire to kill. At least, no more than any other human. There was no excuse, no reason, he just killed on his own agenda, and he had a very specific range of targets. Sure, he made society better by taking them out, but it was still murder. And he knew that one day, he would have to face that music. And he was not afraid.

Gaara sighs as he looks around the nightclub he owned. It was a perfect mixture of the mundane and supernatural in his mind and yet, it just couldn't snap Sasuke out of his self-appointed mission.

"Very well then." He sighs as he looks at Sasuke. "Tell me about this Gato you're after." He was going to end up dead. If Gaara was intelligent, he'd slowly start distancing himself from Sasuke. From someone who was going to willingly walk straight into their own coffin and had no intention of coming out, but he wasn't. Temari had always been the brains of their family.

Sasuke's eyes close, a wave of sadness and nostalgia rolling over him. "…I told you about Haku, right? The one from Hokkaido, he had the cryokinetic abilities." The ice power that was so beautiful…that entertained Sasuke a little when they were still children.

Gaara didn't like where this was going. Sasuke seemed sad about Haku. That could only mean one thing. "Yes, you've mentioned him in passing. Gato killed him, I take it?" Haku's name had stood out amongst the sea of victims that Orochimaru had created over the years. It was rare for Sasuke to speak fondly of anyone.

"…Yeah." Sasuke had hoped that Haku would have had a better life once he was out of Orochimaru's reach, but it seemed that his friend hadn't gotten off so easily. "…He found his soulmate, but from what he told me…Gato had them both killed, even though he was the one who'd hired them in the first place." It was just supposed to be security, but it looked like everything had gone wrong. Sasuke couldn't allow that transgression against his friend to stand. That's why he'd already checked out the flight he would smuggle himself onto and packed his overnight bag. Gato had to die.

The red head sighs as he knew he was going to need a lot of shots to get through this night. "Fate can be cruel sometimes." The boy had gained his freedom and found love only to be killed by a criminal. "I can't begrudge you wanting to avenge Haku and his match." He wouldn't even bother to try in this instance. "Just be careful."

"I know." Sasuke was never reckless, not like that. His entire life might be reckless, but in specific instances, he was always careful. After all, there was no killing a target without getting to them first. "And when I get back, Orochimaru is next." He would finally put and end to the one who had plague him for all these years. He'd finally found Orochimaru's secret home, where he could find the villain and kill him in peace. And then that would be the end of it, Sasuke could, in theory, finally retire. But he doubted it would be so simple. After all, the innocent victims would continue to find him, making their requests and pointing him towards those who'd done them wrong. And as always, he would be compelled to help them seek their justice. Their revenge.

The redhead had absolutely no idea what he was going to do with the other man. Though that was a question for another time. Something had caught the corner of Gaara's eye. Something...beautiful and translucent. "Alright." He half stifles a groan as he smacks his forehead. "Though I have half a mind to ask some fairy to smother you in pixie dust till you come to your senses after all that." He wouldn't deny Sasuke his rightful kills, but after that...well, all bets were off.

"I'm sure that you'll be smothered before I am." After all, Gaara was the one who owned and worked the bar, not him. Though not because it hadn't been offered. "Though if you're really so much less of a romantic than I am, it explains why I've never seen you dragging a fairy home at night." And he'd seen his redheaded friend eyeing one fairy in particular the few nights he was here to witness it.

"I doubt it." Gaara shakes his head. He'd barely gotten a decent look at any of the handful of fairies brave enough to come to his club. "Fairies avoid my kind like the plague." For good reason. They did occupy completely different niches as far as mother nature was concerned.

"Not even that one with the dark hair and lavender wings?" Sasuke raises a mischievous eyebrow. "I know that she's never come up to the bar before, but I've see you looking from over here." And from what little Sasuke had seen, she was pretty enough, for a woman. "You could probably offer to take the drinks over instead of having her psychic friend come pick them up."

"Aren't you the romantic all of a sudden when it's not your own love life involved?" Gaara rolls his eyes. He was being foolish. "My club has a good reputation. Which is why a handful of fairies are brave enough to come here." None would talk to him though. "That doesn't make them foolish enough to defy their instincts to avoid a natural predator of theirs."

Vampires didn't hate fairies. Far from it. They loved them to death. Their blood was like...pure sugar to them, ambrosia, and a million other good things all rolled into one. Fairies couldn't die of old age, but being drained of all their blood was one way to kill them. Even magic had its limits.

"Well, you're long past your ripper phase, so I don't see why you couldn't control yourself and at least pretend to be a decent person while talking to her." After all, even if Sasuke wasn't getting any action now or…ever, it didn't mean Gaara had to abstain. "I'm sure that once you turn on the charm, she'd forgive you for being a meddling asshole."

How could he say this without sounding vain? "If I wanted physical companionship, I'm quite capable of finding it." Hell, he did find it. "I do indulge in such things now and then when you're not looking." Sasuke didn't strike him as a voyeur and he wasn't necessarily one to 'Kiss and Tell,' himself.

So, the old vampire actually WAS getting laid. That was news to Sasuke. Sure, Gaara was hot, but his personality was often so stony that no one wanted to get near him. "Well, I'm glad to see that you're not completely out of practice." He smirks as he reaches to pour himself another couple shots of whiskey. "Things tend to get rusty and limp if you don't exercise them enough."

Gaara would have sputtered if it wasn't beneath his dignity to do so. He was over four hundred years old. Vampires like him didn't sputter. "Well then, I suppose you would know." The red head rolls his eyes and bites back a hiss. "Seeing as I don't believe you've ever gotten any 'practice' in."

Sasuke rolls his own eyes, not bothering to stop himself. "Seeing as I have little to no interest in people beyond killing them, I don't see how that's an issue." He might have been a romantic once, but his interest in finding it for himself had died long ago. For other people, he could do it, but for himself, he couldn't muster the needed motivation.

"In any case, it's best to leave the fairies to their own devices." Gaara stretches lazily. "I think I'll go find a feeder." A human who would willingly let him feed off of them for one reason or another. Sometimes for money, sometimes for the thrill of it, and there were some who fell into both camps. There was little need to hunt in the modern world, especially in large cities were vampire groupies existed in excess.

Sasuke sighs, rolling his eyes once more as he hops over the bar and takes Gaara's place behind it. "Fine, I'll cover for you here. You go find yourself a walking blood bag." Not that he was formally trained as a bartender, he'd just picked up the basics from watching Gaara and trained himself from there. And sometimes, if Gaara wanted out from behind the bar, Sasuke would take his place and make sure that the drinks kept flowing.

"How kind of you." Gaara smirks as he heads off to do precisely that. "Especially after tormenting me." Even vampires needed to eat.

The psychic chuckles as he watches the vampire stalk away to track down some willing prey, before turning his gaze to the bar as a couple of guys down the bar call for a round of beer. Not the most tasteful option in this place, but the vampire never had stocked the cheap crap. No, he'd made sure that some of the best beer, stout, and ale available was on tap, coming from Italy, Scotland, Germany, Belgium, and of course…Ireland. Not to mention the hard spirits shelf at the back of the bar with featured labels from around the world.

Gaara smiles when he sees a brunette and saunters over to her. "Tenten, right?" He wasn't entirely sure if she was human or a supernatural, but he knew she came to the bar because a fairy named Neji did. Still, she seemed to like vampires well enough. She might be willing.

Tenten blinks, nods, then looks the vampire up and down. Neji had told her about this one, something about looking at his cousin, right? "Yeah." Wait…this was the guy from the bar, right? "You're the bartender, aren't you?"

"One of them." Gaara smiles at her. "I'm also the club's owner." Why did she look at him so suspiciously? He hadn't done anything out of the ordinary yet.

Oh, well, that explained a lot. "Sorry, I just…" Tenten laughs bashfully. "I just thought that you might get in trouble with your boss if you played hooky from the bar, but…you're the boss, so…" Well, that was silly of her. Though, to be fair, it wasn't often that you met a club owner who worked his own bar. "Sorry, yes, I'm Tenten." She smiles warmly, trying to cover for her mistake.

"There's no need to apologize." He smiles fangtastically at her. "I was wondering, if I might ask you for a small favor."

From the bar, Sasuke twirls a mixer around in his hands as he keeps an eye on Gaara. Not that he didn't trust the vampire to keep his wits about him and be nice to the girl, he did. In fact, he would go so far as to say that he trusted Gaara's ability to control himself better than his own. At least, with regards to their own targets. This girl, though, her danger level ranked…maybe a two on the scale, and a zero for threat. Sasuke only took on six and above.

Still, as long as nothing happened under his watch, all was well.

He pours a bright blue drink into a couple of martini glasses, dropping a cherry and raspberry into each. Why these girls wanted such a sweet and sour drink was beyond him, but without the extra sugar and shots of blue raspberry liqueur, he could almost enjoy it himself. Almost. "Order up, two Electric Raspberries." Electric was right, they could probably conduct a mountain of voltage.

The girls quickly dart over to get their drinks. Immediately, they commence Operation Eyelash. It was an age old operation. One that any coed worth their salt would try to land themselves a hottie.

Sasuke slides the drinks smoothly across the polished metal and wood counter-top. "For you ladies. Sorry for the wait. Gaara decided he needed a break from standing behind the bar." The charming mask was in place, something that Sasuke did whenever he took over the bar. After all, it wouldn't do to scare all of Gaara's customers away by glaring at them. Though he still would have kept an eye on the coeds just in case. He'd rather not see them toddle home drunk and vulnerable, after all, it would weigh too heavily on his conscience if something happened to them.

"Thanks!" They beam at him, batting their eyelashes. "So what are you doing later?" After all, they didn't see a ring on his hand. So in theory he was fair game.

"Packing and catching a few hours of sleep." After all, bar-tending wasn't his actual 'job', so to speak, and Sasuke had places to be. "I'm heading to Chicago to see a friend."

"Oh well, have fun in Chicago!" They try to hide their disappointment. "That's so cool that you're all international and stuff!" After all, he was supposed to be coming back, right?

Fun, huh? Sasuke supposed that was one way of putting it. "Mhm, I've been all over the world. Columbia, China, Japan, England, Scotland, Greece, Italy, Russia, Estonia, South Africa." In fact, short of Antarctica, he'd been to every continent. "This will always be home, though." Or close enough to it that he kept coming back.

Hearts begin appearing in their eyes. Oh boy. Maybe, he shouldn't have said that. They were now in full on Gushing Coed Mode.

Sasuke blinks, fighting hard to resist the urge to take a few steps back. He knew that look, though he hadn't met many Canadian university students who would give it to him. It was mostly the American exchange students studying abroad that did it. Some were fine, but some were just so…ditzy. "Is there anything else the two of your would like?" So long as he stayed professional, they would fly away and leave him alone.

He was saved by a blonde vampiress. "There you are!" Regulars would known her as Temari. Gaara's sister. "Alex, you've really got to stop taking these late shifts." These girls weren't regulars though and the eldest of the Sabaku Siblings knew that. "Come on. Let's get you out of here. My brother is such a slavedriver sometimes." She wraps her arms around his back for emphasis as if to say, 'Mine.'

He wasn't sure whether to sigh in relief or laugh. It wasn't the first time she'd done this, and Sasuke never knew if it would be the last, but he was grateful for it nonetheless. "Well, you know your brother, when it's time for him to feed, someone has to take over the bar." He relaxes slightly in her hold and wraps an arm around her waist, confident in the knowledge that Temari had no attraction to him whatsoever. "I'll finish up these last few orders then turn the bar back over to Gaara. He should be done in about ten minutes."

"Alright." She smiles at him. "Though you won't be done with me nearly as quickly as you are tending the bar. I have the day off tomorrow." Temari didn't seem to have an issue laying it on thick because her hand trails over the his hip and almost into some dangerous territory. "I'll see you then. I'm going to go yell at him." She smiles at the girls. "Oh it was nice meeting you." Before bounding off. Her mission had been accomplished.

Sasuke represses a smirk as the girls gape like a pair of fish, the faux smile back on his face as his fake girlfriend saunters away. "Sorry about that, Temari can be a little pushy when I don't give her enough attention. She gets a little antsy before I leave on trips." He could lay it on thick as well, and the results were hilarious. "Now, what were we talking about?"

"Oh um nothing." They smile at him. "I think maybe we should have another drink and call a cab." Well, you win some. You lose some.

Sasuke sighs silently with relief. That was close.