GAARA SIGHED HEAVILY as he flitted in and out of the undergrowth. He needed more blood; draining Sakura dry wasn't enough to fuel him anymore. The demands of work were increasing, the clan was growing restless with inactivity, and he needed to feed In order to perform a few odd jobs to bring in the monthly wages.

They could afford to miss a few months of work, being as they were well off to begin with, but there was nothing that Gaara hated more than a lazy person who chose to have fun rather than work than the situation presented itself. There was also the situation of taxes. If they didn't do enough supposedly "normal" business, then the government grew suspicious when they paid their property taxes, among various other taxes, with money that they had no records of making. The last thing he wanted was to be audited.

Gaara pulled the slip of paper from the pocket of his tan trench coat, reading the name that he'd jotted down when linked up. Tonight, rather than feeding off of cracked-out, cheap blood; he'd be feeding off of a different kind of criminal. It seemed only fitting.

He traveled on for another hour, coming to a small town a few hours from his home. It reeked of suburban conformity, something he couldn't stand. It was too easy to stick out in these kinds of communities.

With a swift, silent leap he landed on the brown-shingled roof of the home. In the dark light, the soft-green of the home's siding looked more gray and bleak. Rather fitting, really. Gaara smirked slightly as he pressed himself against the roof, avoiding the light of a passing car. In two quick, silent moves he was inside, having slipped through a dorm window. Kneeling on the bench that was building into the wall that jutted out from the roof, he eased the window shut. He frowned when he saw the little girl sleeping in her bed, but remembered that he was doing her a favor.

Naturally, the man was sleeping with next to his wife. Gaara made a mental note to make tracks to someone else, so that the child would have someone to watch over her. Should anyone else ask, he'd assure them that he was just taking extra precautions to cast aspersions on someone else, and save his own ass rather than look out for a little girl. But he understood how hard it was for a child to grow up without parents.

Technically, he'd had a father. But his hadn't been worth a damn, and neither was this one. Gaara figured it would have been better for him, had someone offed his father for him. Too little, too late, for him though.

Gaara pressed a finger against the woman's temple, raising a brow slightly when she stirred slightly, her body jerking as her eyes fluttered. He inserted himself into her mind before she could fully wake, and filled her mind with a deep dream before he informed her of her husband's deeds. He would naturally blame it on another pedophile friend of his, but he needed her to play along with his scheme. Controlling her wouldn't be easy though; getting someone to obey his will was no longer a large task for him, and this was even easier for him because she was asleep, leaving her mind open to manipulation.

Without making a noise, he zipped back to the child's room to ensure that he could keep her body still while he killed her father. He didn't want anyone to barge in and object with what he was going to have the wife report to police.

With a smile, he jerked the slumbering man out of bed, clamping a hand over his mouth before he could protest. The man, late in his forties, had the makings of a pot-belly, but was still in reasonably good shape. This didn't matter, though, not when facing a creature built for killing.

Fishing the weapon that he'd fetched before his little excursion, Gaara brandished it in one hand as he kicked the coffee table against the sofa.

"Well, Morton. What have you got to say for yourself?" purred Gaara, enjoying the intense spike in the man's heart-rate. The man's struggles ceased.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" he demanded, trying to wrench himself free. Gaara let him go, turning right to throw him into the recliner. The force of Gaara's throw landed the man on the recliner, which flipped back onto the floor.

"I know a lot about you. Let's just say... I'm a concerned citizen. A citizen concerned about the safety of your daughter," snarled Gaara, leaping over the chair, to grab the filthy geezer by the collar of his flannel night-shirt. "Considering your... extracurricular activities...I don't think it's a good idea for you to be around her anymore. "

Gaara resisted breaking the man's neck when his lips began to purse, then he began to gasp for air, struggling to reach an explanation. He looked a like a fish, slowly suffocating at the end of a fishing pole. He was trapped and he knew it.

Gaara made quick work of killing him. He smacked him around the room a bit, to create the look of a "struggle." It wasn't much of a struggle for him, though. Maybe it was a struggle for greasy little Morton, who was getting the life beaten out of him, but not so much for Gaara.

Patiently, he sat down on the floor, squeezing the man between his legs. He withdrew a needle, connected it to an empty blood bag, and then inserted the needle into the crook of the man's elbow. He took enough to feed himself-two bags worth-and then neatly put the blood back into his jacket. Safely sealed up, he could eat it once he left the house. But, first things first. He bit into the flesh of his thumb, and quickly smeared his venom into the miniscule wound puncture in the man's arm, so it would heal over. That would be odd to explain on an autopsy.

Gaara made quick work of stabbing the man once, twice, three times in a manner that would look frenzied and thoughtless. Then he waited until the life oozed completely from the man before leaving, making sure to collect the knife and unlock the door. It was illogical to keep it locked.

He licked his fingers, to make sure he wouldn't leave any fingerprints, before he exited via the path he'd taken to get into the house. Gaara greedily slurped down his bags of blood, sucking every lost drop of blood he could, before he sprinted two blocks down to the other man's home. It wasn't hard to curl the man's fingers around them, push some of the other man's blood and skin under his finger nails, and even scuff of the man's face. Taking over the man's mind was almost laughably easy. Gaara did laugh, once he was on his way back home. It was a night well used; he fed, conducted some poetic justice, and didn't even get any blood on his clothing.

[.-_-.]

LAUGHING TO HERSELF, Temari skipped over four of Sakura's checkers. "King me, bitch."

Sakura grunted in annoyance and complied, settling one of her slain black checkers on top of Temari's vibrant red checker that had just committed partial genocide against her.

"You just got lucky there," she joked, pulling her shoulder length pink hair into a ponytail. "I can't believe I thought playing checkers would be a good idea."

"Well, when you've lived for as long as I have, you get pretty good at it. It's not hard to predict the moves!" Temari smiled, reaching across the board to readjust a few pieces of Sakura's bangs. "There ya go. So, tell me, how is it that you are naturally pink-haired?"

"Well, when I was younger I had some form of albinism, I guess. After a while, the pink faded out, so it's like a dull-rosy blonde. But sometimes I like to revamp it and use some pink dye. Other times, it just gets pinker on its own. I'm not sure what to make of it, to be honest. I don't know if the diagnosed me correctly. I do sunburn, but I don't have much problem about it. I'm like everyone else in that respect. I think it's more of a pigment disorder..."

"Can you dye it colors other than pink?" inquired Temari, intrigued by the odd, yet delightful color.

"Yeah. I just have to be careful, or I end up looking like an idiot. Sometimes it's just easier to let it g-you bitch! Stop killing my little checkers! What did they ever do to you!?"

"They challenged me to a match, haha! Or was that you, silly?" Temari winked, watched calmly as Sakura made her next move. Temari beat her-yet again-in a few more turns.

They spent a little while talking about boring, mundane things. Sakura was trying to avoid talking about Naruto, but she knew it would come up sooner or later. When it did, she was a little bit surprised about what Temari had to say.

"Are you sure you're doing the right thing? Naruto loves you, Sakura. For Gaara... you could just be a... way to pass the time. "

Talk about being blunt and direct...

"I don't know if I'm doing the right thing. I know I don't feel the same about Naruto, though. I don't know... Maybe I'm just trying to run from my old life and all the things that happened at the Piggly Wiggly, but when I... When I look at him, I see Ino dying on the floor of the freezer..." Sakura trailed off, scraping her thumb against the fabric of her jeans.

"Well if you bored of Gaara, I can always hook you up with one of my guy friends, sweetie. They're, naturally, all vampires, but they are much more approachable than he is. I hate to see Naruto hurt, but maybe this is for the best. I'll have to find him a hot little vampire to shack up with in the meantime-"

"He won't go for that. He's... like incapable of using people. He'll get over it in his own time, I know he will. It's just going to be harder for him until he does. "

Temari sighed, and then smiled, cupping Sakura's face in her hands. "I'm so glad you know him so well. It makes helping him feel better so much easier! By the way, how are you adjusting?"

"Adjusting? ... To what?" Sakura raised a brow in confusion.

"Being nocturnal! Did you forget you used to be awake during the day?"

"Oh... Well, I hadn't really thought about it. I might actually go out and tan in a while, if that's the case. I am getting awfully pale," she laughed, and inspected the skin on her arms. "I mean, I am usually considered pale, but this is getting ridiculous."

[.-_-.]

"NO! YOU GUYS are supposed to shoot, duck, and then run! You don't duck, run and shoot!" Kankuro groaned, covering his face with his hands. "You guys are awful teammates, you're gonna get me killed. I'm never gonna beat Sasori at this rate."

"Calm down, I'll get better. Believe it, I learn quickly," muttered Naruto, setting the remote down so he didn't squeeze too hard in his frustration. Kankuro, who often lost his temper and either chucked the remote or squished it to pieces, had a large stop of X-box controllers for just that purpose. Naruto had stumbled across them in an effort to entertain himself.

"I think I'm learning pretty quickly, too! I already know five swearwords, what the "x" button does, and how to crouch!" protested the new girl. Kankuro had taken to calling her "yuko," for her gentle nature. He wondered if, with all of her memories, she would still be so soft and trusting. It was like a having a child around; there was a constant stream of questions when she was presented with something new, and then a few moments of her fiddling with the concept before she accepted it. The exact opposite could occur after a while. He remembered from personal experience-it was utterly irritating to not know things that you felt you should already know.

Kankuro nodded, offering a small smile. "I know. It's just frustrating. I'm used to sitting here and winning by myself."

Yuko sighed in discontent, unsure of what to do. "I feel like I have forgotten about something... But I have no idea what it is."

"Have you eaten?" Kankuro asked, setting down his remote. He was almost positive she hadn't. He guiltily leapt up to grab her some food, realizing that she'd been there for at least two days already and they had forgotten to feed her.

"Have you eaten yet, Naruto?" she inquired, the memory if Gaara feeding off of her fresh in her mind. It wasn't hard to have a memory be so fresh when she didn't have very many memories.

Naruto sheepishly shook his head no, and frowned when she offered him blood. "Are you sure?"

"You act like it's a big deal. Don't I eat the same things as you guys?" Yuko raised her eyebrows expectantly. Naruto couldn't help but laugh.

"No! Haha, you eat human food. Not blood."

"... Human? ...is that what I am? Aren't you human?"

Naruto shifted uh uncomfortably, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh, well... I'm different than you. We look the same, but we're not."

Yuko stared at her feet for a moment and then smiled shyly."Will you still play game with me anyway?" When Naruto agreed she smiled. "Good! Then I have to let you! Temari told me that you and me were gonna be friends, and if we were gonna be friends I had to let you, so things were fair. Plus, she told me you were nicer than Gaara and I don't want to be his friend. He's scary. I finally learned the word for that."

Naruto smiled slightly, wishing she'd stop talking so much. He was so used to seeing her bubbly and happy that he was afraid to make her cry when he bit her. Thankfully, Kankuro arrived with food for her. She finally realized how hungry sue was and was quiet for a little while as she stuffed her face.

"I forgot to get her food, ugh. I can't believe I forgot. "Kankuro admitted, chuckling darkly.

Naruto shrugged. "It's okay; I don't think she can hold a grudge. Temari told her that I'm allowed to feed off of her since we're such good friends now... Thanks for playing with me. I needed it."

"Uh... Anytime, dude."

[.-_-.]

"WHERE'D YOU GO last night? I was a little worried you weren't going to come back..."

At the sound of Sakura's voice, Gaara turned around, feigning surprise. His coat was still in his arms, folded precisely in half and looped over his right arm. "Sakura, I live here. Why wouldn't I come back?"

Sakura, flabbergasted, stared at him for a moment. Gaara was amused by the way lips parted in disbelief, staying that way until she gathered her wits. "I was... it was an expression, Gaara!"

"Mmm... why do you use expressions that do not reflect your true wishes? You were not worried about me coming home- you simply want to know where I went and why." Gaara smiled when her face fell; she realized that she had been caught.

"Had I asked, would you have told me?" Sakura smiled slightly, taking a tentative step closer.

"No, "he smirked. "Although, I may now...But, first... I'd need to do something."

Sakura placed her hands against his chest, a smile spreading across her glossy lips. "And what would that be, hmm?"

"Mark you as mine."

Gaara smirked as Sakura paled. He was almost surprised when he bit her and she didn't even protest.

[.-_-.]

KAKASHI FROWNED AS he listened to Sarutobi and Tsunade speaking. The leader of the Akot clan had been invading the Sabaku's territories in repeated attempts to rile Gaara, the clan leader of the Sabakus, into a fight. Gaara wasn't taking the bait, which was good. However, other boundaries were being crossed... Boundaries that not even Gaara could ignore.

Author's Note. Blah. I am having issues keeping the subplot up to date. I can't just leave it out, either, because it will be important later.

Yay or nay on the name?

Any special requests?