A/N: Yes an update! I'm at my friend's house and she has internet so I figured I'd post a new chapter of Just a Taste for all of you that miss me so much. I don't have internet of my own yet BUT I did get a new laptop and it is not demonically possessed like my old one so YAY! Anywho…R&R I love encouragement and feedback. Also: I do not own Naruto or the Naruto characters however the plot, the original characters, and the various histories of said characters are all mine unless otherwise stated so…no taking without permission or…bad things will happen to you.

Chapter 8: Misconceptions

"What are you doing with my phone?" Zukiyo asked her red haired male companion after he took it from her and started typing into it.

He didn't answer. Gaara just continued what he was doing until she tried to take it back then held it out of her reach. It was an easy feat since he was taller than she was and an amusing one as well. The male watched out of the corner of his eye as his companion futilely reached for it while he typed into it for another minute or so.

It was just as she was about to lose her temper and punch him that he pulled his own phone out and looked at it before typing into hers again and she understood what he was doing. He was putting numbers into her phone. Probably Naruto's, his siblings', as well as Neji and Hinata's new numbers, and his own most likely.

"Yep." She thought as he sent himself a message from her phone.

"How do you spell your name?" He asked and refused the urge to just put Princess in as her name.

"Z. U. K. I. Y. O. How else would I spell it?" she snapped at him as if she could tell what he was thinking and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye at her.

"I don't know. That's the point of asking." He stated and she rolled her eyes at him before he finished entering her into his contacts and handed back her phone, "Try not to call me unless you desperately need something."

"Desperately need…hmm…I suppose I can handle that." Zu stated and they walked out of the mall, "So…where now?"

Gaara looked at her and considered the answer. He decided it would be best to show her around the city a bit some other time since it would take awhile to do. As such he opted to take her to where Neji was. The red head figured that it would be a wise decision to show the Hyuga that Zukiyo was safe in Gaara's hands.

"For now." He thought and nodded at the door to Zukiyo, "Come. It would probably be best to get you back to Neji before he thinks I murdered you."

"Murder me?" she started as she walked alongside him and smiled playfully at him, "Why would you do that? I haven't done anything to provoke you…yet. "

He chuckled as he held the door open for her. She was interesting, yes she was, and, although he didn't want to admit it, he was looking forward to getting to know more about this woman. However that would have to wait until he concluded his business tonight.

"So, just to satisfy my own curiosity, what is it you do?" she asked him at one point as they walked and he looked at her not quite sure he understood the question, "Your brother runs clubs, I think Neji mentioned something about your sister running something or another…a restaurant or theatre. Naruto…seems much too eccentric to actually do much of anything other than be him…"

"I manage our territory." He stated, slightly amused in her summation of Naruto which was dead on actually.

"That's it?" she asked looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. It does take up a good amount of time. After returning you to your keeper I must attend to something." He said and she nodded.

"I'm guessing that would be the new mayor." She stated and Gaara looked at her wondering how she had guessed that, "I saw the headlines on one of the newspapers from today about who won the mayoral election and such."

The red head nodded as they walked on before he started thinking about how his night would have to go and realized a bit of a problem. It wasn't too much of a problem, just a bit of a minor setback. To drop off Zukiyo at where Neji was on the East Side it would take him out of his way to get to the mayor's office in the North Side. He checked his watch briefly and mentally cursed. The new mayor would have gone home by the time he got there regardless of what he did with Zukiyo. Unknown to Gaara his female companion noticed this so she spoke.

"If you're still intent on speaking to the mayor tonight you might want to consider paying said person a visit at home." Zu stated quite casually and he looked at her questioningly, "A home is where everyone is supposed to feel safe and feel invincible. If you show that you can get into their house without anyone noticing you will have disrupted that illusion of invincibility and should have an easier time…convincing them of the true nature of the world so to speak."

The redhead paused a moment in consideration of her words and found that he agreed with her on most points except for one.

"The only problem with that is if I break into the mayor's home there is the slight chance-" he started but she cut him off already knowing what he was going to say.

"I know the new mayor is a woman and might think you're going to do something unspeakable to her but still doing this in her home is still better than the office…especially since she's a woman," Zu stated then elaborated when Gaara's stare prompted her to, "Her home is her haven…where her husband comes to her and loves her…where her children laugh and play…where she is safe and warm from that primal fear all humans have of the dark and unknown. Bring a little darkness into her little haven of light and I promise you that you will have put a deep seeded fear into her fragile, little, human heart."

"That would be a cruel thing to do to her. She'll never feel safe in her own home again." Gaara stated then smirked at Zukiyo, "I think we're going to get along just fine…Princess."

"We will indeed." Zu stated and patted his cheek, "As long as you stop calling me Princess…Gaara-sama."

He chuckled a bit before they went to see the task done, since Zukiyo invited herself to go with him, all the while thinking that maybe this female wasn't as soft hearted as he originally supposed.

Half an hour later Marian St. Clair walked to her home office after making sure that her daughter had gone to bed on time. Her husband, John, had already gone to bed as he was sick with a head cold. At least he said it was only a head cold but Marian knew very well that John always played down illnesses and was probably sick with the flu or some such thing. All this and more played through her mind that so when she walked out of her and her husband's bedroom she didn't notice the strange scent in his tea or that something was off about the way her chair was positioned when she walked into her office and shut the door. That is…she didn't notice until she flipped on the light and found herself staring right into two jade eyes rimmed heavily in black and jumped a bit.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my home?" she asked urgently yet quietly as to not wake her children.

"Sabaku no Gaara." He stated and she raised an eyebrow.

Sabaku no Gaara was a well-known name in the city. The Sabaku name itself was well-known; as well as the name it was frequently tied to: Uzumaki. It was common knowledge that the two families had been closely tied together since the founding of the city. The whole group was very influential and invested in many of the restoration projects for the city. It could be said that they helped build this city. Other than that very little was known about them as they kept to themselves most of the time, however from her brief inspection of this man he did have the reported family features: bright red hair, strange eyes, tall, and the love of red.

"Which one are you? The forth…fifth…whatever. There was a Sabaku no Gaara that lived in the city when I was a child and one when my father was a child and so on. Whatever, it doesn't matter. What are you doing in my house?" she asked again, unaware of another presence in the room.

"I'm here on business…so to speak." He stated seriously and yet something about the way he said it set something off in Marian's mind and she vaguely recalled the conversation she had with the departing mayor before he left…

Two Days Ago

"Well Marian it was a good race right until the end. I can't say I envy you though." Jack had stated, his tie loosened and suit coat unbuttoned making him look a little disheveled, "Heh…you laugh now."

Marian had laughed lightly at that comment knowing all too well that she had a lot of work ahead of her. Then again she didn't enter the mayoral race for glory. She entered it to work. As she was about to tell Jack that she noticed for the first time how tired the man looked.

Grey peppered the older man's dark hair; something she had never noticed before in truth and it surprised her. Jack was older than her but not old enough in her opinion to have that much grey hair…or that many wrinkles. He looked worn and tired. She could only guess that it was the stress from the job and his home life.

"You laugh now. This job isn't easy and things aren't what they seem." He stated cryptically next.

"What are you talking about Jack? I know the position isn't all buttercups and sunflowers." Marian stated smiling until he spoke next.

"No…no it's not. Buttercups and sunflowers exist in the light…and some of the business you'll have to deal with on this job doesn't exist in the light." He said and pulled on his overcoat and scarf as she frowned at him, "You'll find out soon enough…in a couple of days probably. That's when I did. My advice for you…keep an open mind towards everything. We humans have such little minds sometimes that we immediately discredit something just because we believe it to be impossible. Well…impossible things happen every day. I'll be seeing you."

With that he had put his hat on and left and she couldn't help but wonder at his words. Now she couldn't help but think that this… "visit" had something to do with that…and she was afraid.

"I'm not going to hurt you…as long as we get along nicely so you don't need to be afraid." The man named Gaara stated and this did nothing to help calm her and somehow she had the idea that he knew that.

"What…what do you mean business?" she asked nervously, "What…what kind of business?"

"Mine." he stated and somehow when the light of a car passing by outside caught his eyes they reflected…like an animals and she knew that something was wrong with this man.

"What…what's wrong with you?" she asked backing up away from this red haired man with such strange eyes and remembered that he had said he was the original Sabaku no Gaara which was impossible unless…that couldn't be, "What…what are you?"

"Well I do have to give it to you…you caught on much faster than Jack and his predecessor did." Gaara chuckled then stated as he walked closer to her and Marian saw something she had to look twice at: He had fangs, "Running won't get you anywhere."

She didn't care as she turned and ran for her children's bedroom. Marian had never believed her grandmother when the old woman warned her of vampires. Her grandmother had been close to ninety when she died and held onto the belief that vampires roamed the city and lived amongst everyone like normal people. Being a child Marian ate up her stories like every grandchild did but she had never given them any credence. As a teenager she openly laughed when the old woman told her to be home before dark lest the vampires get her. Now…Marian's mind raced with everything the woman had said of them as she raced to get to her children.

"But…but why did da gispy do dat?" she heard her youngest daughter ask just as Marian stopped dead in her tracks in the doorway.

Sitting in the chair next to her little girl's bed was a woman. Dark haired, fair skinned, silver eyed, and…wrong the woman sat there dressed in red and black with Marian's little girl on her lap as if it were story time. The mother's heart sank into her stomach and made it roil. The woman's eyes caught Marian's for a brief second, catching the light of the hallway as they did, before she spoke to the little girl.

"Because the little girl's mother didn't listen to the gypsy's friend. You remember. The mother wanted very badly to be able to provide for her family after her husband took sick…"

"Oh yeah! Dat was da pwice! Dat the mommy help the gispy's fwiend take care of hif family wif…wif…" her daughter stated and tried to remember something from the story apparently, " 'Wif her newfound wealf,' or the liddle girl would hafta live wif the gispy and her fwiend. Dat's why dey took the liddle girl away huh?"

"You are exactly right, sweetheart." the woman stated as she affectionately smoothed the little girl's hair back.

Marian's heart sank even more as she heard that. Something in her heart told her that it wasn't just a story; it was a warning. Covering her mouth with her hand as she shook her head at the thought of her daughter being taken away she backed up slowly as she felt the terror well up inside her even more.

"Da lady shoulda helped da gispy's fwiend and liffened to da gispy and not been so toopid n' greedy." Her daughter stated and the woman nodded.

"I think so too. You know…you are a very smart little girl."

"I'm not liddle. I'm four n' a haf years owd on Friday." Her daughter protested and the woman nodded humoring the girl as Marian backed up down the hall with the intent to wake her husband for help.

"You are so right…you're not a little girl. You're a big girl. Still…it's time for you to get some sleep…"

Opening the door to her bedroom Marian ran over to her sleeping husband and tried desperately to wake him. Yet no matter how much she shook him he wouldn't stir. He was out cold.

"John! Wake up! Wake up! They have Sarah! Wake up!" she urged but he wouldn't and she finally noticed that something didn't smell right with his tea cup and there was an extra spoon.

Terrified she ran for her husband's office, intending on locking it, and was met yet again by those two black rimmed eyes under a head of blood red hair. Before she could run out the woman pulled the door shut as she entered and locked it. As the door shut out the light from the hallway the room darkened. She stared at the door and watched the darkness engulf the room until all that was left in the room was Marian, two vampires, and the darkness that consumed them.

"Zu…what were you thinking?" Neji scolded the exiled princess once she had returned home where he was waiting and he escorted her back to her rooms.

"That I'd get a phone, see some of the city, and make friends." She stated as she tossed her coat on the back of a chair.

"With Gaara?"

"Yes. With him." She replied and plopped down on the couch to lounge as she flipped the TV on.

"Are you insane?" her constant protector asked as he watched her sit there like this was no big deal.

"A little, but that has been established already. Oh Neji…calm down. Your paranoia is showing. Gaara is a moody, antisocial bastard but he's not that bad once you get used to him. I will be fine around him…I'm a big girl and I can handle myself." She stated and smiled at him reassuringly.

"Zuzu…just be careful around him. Please. For me." He stated, knowing all too well that she wouldn't stay away from the dangerous pureblood even if he begged her to, and watched her go down the hall somewhere.

"I'm telling you, Kankuro, you're all playing with fire." Temari stated to her little brother after he got home from work, "Even if, by some miracle, Gaara does not-"

"He's not going to use her, Tem. You know him. He wouldn't do that. As for killing her…trust me, he's not going to get to doing that." Kankuro stated to his older sister casually.

"How do you know that?" she asked, "If he wants to kill her he'll just do it."

"Exactly." Her little brother replied with a smile on his face and she understood.

"He hasn't killed her yet. She's an obvious threat but he hasn't killed her yet." Temari stated, realization having finally dawned upon her, "All logic states he would have just eliminated such a large threat to his own existence by now…or would have tried to."

"Yep."

"What…why hasn't he?" she asked.

"Curiosity." Kankuro stated smiling almost wickedly, "He's curious…he wants to know what about her makes Naruto, since he hasn't figured out that I'm involved in this too yet, makes Naruto think that Zukiyo is 'worthy' of Gaara's attention. He's too curious about her to kill her. He's probably going to find out more about her before he decides whether or not to eliminate her…and by the time he finds out what he wants he's going to want a whole new set of things."

"How are you so sure of this, Kankuro?" Temari asked, sincerely confused at her brother's confidence and he looked at her.

"He allowed her to go with him when he dealt with the new mayor." Kankuro stated and Temari looked at him shocked; Gaara usually did such things on his own, "And I hear it went even better than usual. According to my own contacts in the city they actually went to her house to pay a visit after our new friend suggested it to Gaara. The two of them practically had the mayor bowing and scraping to their every whim in no time. They were in and out in a matter of two hours."

"That's it? Even if Gaara scares them half to death it never goes that fast…three hours was the quickest it's ever been. How…"

"I don't know. I'm not too curious about that though. However it happened it still got done quickly and that leads to an easier time running our territory, which will give our dear little brother more time to spend with one Kamitsuyo Zukiyo."

"Kankuro…you have no way of knowing that is what he'll do with his spare time." Temari stated and once again her brother gave her that slightly amused look before speaking.

"Gaara may be an antisocial, moody bastard…but he's still a man. He still has desires, wants, lusts, you name it…and that woman embodies all of them. He just doesn't realize that yet. On top of that…you're forgetting about what she will do…and I have a feeling that he couldn't ignore her or avoid her even if he wanted to."

Some hours later Gaara found himself sitting in an armchair staring out the window in his room. The sun was setting slowly and bathing the estate grounds in Naruto's favorite shade of orange. His new neighbor had once again woken up screaming from some nightmare and of course the Hyuga was there in an instant. Even if he felt like trying to help her Gaara had the feeling that her personal guard wouldn't let him. So, unable to sleep, he sat in the dark brown armchair in his sitting room staring out the windows of the balcony thinking about what had happened with the mayor.

Gaara had to admit that his night had gone a lot smoother than he anticipated. It had actually been rather fun. Then again he had always found striking fear into others amusing. Still, Zukiyo had made it interesting to say the least. She was quite a little bundle of surprises…interesting surprises and cruel ones as well. In his opinion that only made her more interesting…and that only made him want to know about her even more. On their way back to the estate Gaara had learned a few things about his new companion. He wasn't expecting it but she did volunteer some information, nothing major to be sure, but it was at least something. What surprised him the most was how…he didn't know how to describe it.

They had gained access into the mayor's house easily enough which wasn't surprising but what was surprising was how quickly Zukiyo went to work. Within minutes she had drugged the husband's tea so that he would sleep straight through the "meeting" regardless of how loud it got.

"It helps that my mother ran an apothecary for a number of years among other things. She was very knowledgeable about herbs and plants and what effects that had if they were consumed or what have you. It was almost as if she liked plants more than she liked people." Zukiyo had stated when he actually praised her quick thinking with the husband's tea.

As for the child and how she handled that she had something to say as well. Gaara himself wasn't expecting her to do that. Threatening a mother with her child's wellbeing was something he did not expect for Zu to have in her.

"She was terrified you were going to kill the girl." He had stated at one point.

"I may be cruel but I do have my limits. I wasn't going to hurt the girl. With me there is an age limit...most of the time. At any rate I wouldn't have seriously done anything to the girl. That would have upset the maternal instincts I was born with."

"Her mother did not know that though."

"Exactly." Was her only reply before smirking a bit twistedly and he couldn't stop himself from smirking in amusement.

Already this woman had proven that he was wrong about her on a number of fronts. As such it made him wonder about what else he could be wrong about. He wasn't going to find out everything right away at any rate. All Gaara could really do was bide his time and be patient. However, patience had never really been one of his strengths. In the meantime he would play nice…in his own way at least.

The next night, as everyone sat in the breakfast room waking up still Gaara watched Naruto walk in talking on the phone with someone. This in itself wasn't odd. Naruto wasn't much for an actual career but he did deal with various matters of business. Gaara didn't know what that business was exactly, but it seriously wouldn't surprise him if it had something to do with ramen. What was odd about this phone call was the look of slight confusion on the Kyuubi's face. It was as if the demon wasn't exactly sure of why this person had called him to discuss whatever it was.

"Ok then. I'll be sure to tell them that." Naruto stated and hung up and looked at Gaara, "Mayor St. Clair wanted me to thank you for whatever you did to help her husband with her cold."

Gaara's head tilted instantly in confusion. He had done nothing of the sort. Then he remembered the tea and looked at Zukiyo who was sitting at the table across from him.

"I told you that it would knock him out. You assumed that's all it would do and didn't ask if it did anything else." She stated and sipped placidly from her glass of blood and in return received a questioning look from the jade eyed vampire across from her, "If you must know why…it was because I figured it might help to make nice with her after the whole leading her to believe I'd take her daughter thing."

"Zu! You can't do that!" Neji scolded and she looked at him.

"I didn't actually do it though now did I? No. I only threatened it. There's a difference. Relax." Zu stated in her own defense as Gaara watched Neji grumble, "Anyway, that's why I did it. Apparently…it worked."

"Apparently so." Gaara stated and drank from his own glass as he began to slowly reevaluate this female's usefulness.

A few weeks later found Gaara seeking out his new companion in the house. They had, much to Neji's disdain and somewhat Gaara's, fallen into a sort of routine. Everyday Gaara would be awakened to Zukiyo's screaming as she woke up from a nightmare, Neji would then go comfort her just as Gaara would poke his head in curiously and be glared at by the said Hyuga and then afterwards they would all manage to return to their room then fall back asleep until night fell and it was time to go out and hunt or attend to other matters when it wasn't necessary to hunt. Neji was usually the one that escorted Zukiyo into the city as Gaara went out to hunt by himself in his usual manner on those days before meeting up with Zukiyo somewhere while Neji dealt with whatever mess Zu had made that night and had their usual banter. After that, most of the time, she would stay with him while he went about his business managing the territory. Other nights, when they were not required to go and feed they'd still meet up at some point while Neji was distracted with something.

Gaara couldn't maintain his earlier belief that she made running the territory more difficult, she didn't. In fact Gaara found that when she accompanied him to do such things usually went along much more smoothly. More issues were solved without him having to kill someone to make his point. It wasn't the fastest way to deal with things but it was still easier. This all proved that their first meeting with the mayor and the speed in which that was resolved wasn't a fluke.

Tonight was going to be different however as a sudden cold front had brought the whole city to a standstill with a snowstorm that had even Naruto in a tizzy as he made sure that none of the pipes in the house burst. Snow had been falling steadily since the night before and had already accumulated about a foot of the accursed whiteness outside their residence and on the road as well…and it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. In fact, according to the weather report he had just finished watching with his sister, the snow was supposed to continue through the night into the next day as well. Temari and he both agreed with the weatherman when said person called this the worst snow storm the area had seen in fifty years.

The residents of the Uzumaki Estate were going to be trapped inside the house for a few days it seemed as their road was always the last to see the flashing lights of the plow trucks as they made their way up the mountain clearing the road of snow. It would not surprise Gaara if he was forced to once again call the town and remind them that their road needed to be cleared of snow. However he was preoccupied with a different task still: finding Zukiyo to give her the news about the snow as well as another thing that he was rather happy with.

His quarry was not in her rooms so he set out to the next most likely spot: a small study to near the back of the 2nd floor of the west wing. Gaara figured that this was where he would find her since Zukiyo seemed to have taken a liking to this particular room for some reason and could usually be found in it when she wasn't found elsewhere.

The room itself was as most rooms in Naruto's house, large and spacious yet with a comfortable air. Gaara remembered that when first built this room had been an off white yellowish color with white boarders however it no longer was. Ever since Zukiyo had arrived and adopted the study as hers it had shifted to a dark warm red almost brown in color and the molding had changed from the white it was to a deep mahogany brown. All in all it gave the room a whole different feeling to it. Bookshelves lined the walls of the study, sparsely filled with books as this particular room was never really put to much use before Zu's arrival, as well as a few paintings of random scenes. A sturdy Victorian era desk with chair sat in the middle of the room facing the door. A few throw rugs lined the already carpeted floor as a couple of cushioned armchairs sat on top of them here and there. Two large bay windows filled the back wall, each with cushioned seats built into the walls beneath them so that one could sit and look out into the gardens beyond the glass, now tinted to protect the inhabitants inside from the sun's harmful rays after someone had put in the order to have that done after discovering Zukiyo's fondness for it. This was also exactly where Gaara found Zukiyo when he entered the room: sitting on the cushions with a light knitted grey blanket around her shoulders staring out the window at the snow as it fell, laying down an increasingly heavier blanket upon the ground.

Gaara examined her quickly as he spotted her, as it was the first time he'd seen her since waking. Her hair was down falling in loose curls around her shoulders as was normal for her. Also as normal she was wearing something to cover her neck, a wide red ribbon choker with black lace detail today as well as something else he noticed she wore frequently: a long gold chain that went down past the neckline of her shirt. It must have had something she held dear to her on the end for her to wear it so frequently. It was cold out so he wasn't too surprised to see his newest companion dressed in a blood colored sweater and heavy jeans and her usual heeled boots.

"There is something about snow that has always struck me as beautifully sad." Zu stated to him as he closed the door behind him to keep in the heat of the room as she continued to watch the snow fall slowly to the ground.

The male pureblood looked at her and couldn't help but notice that her eyes were the exact same shade the clouds overhead had been earlier that day when he had woken up and looked outside. As this thought crossed his mind he took a seat in one of the large armchairs nearest to her before she continued as she sensed the need for her to elaborate for him.

"It covers everything in a pristine blanket of pure white; giving the world an almost otherworldly wonderland quality to it and yet…it's so quiet. Everything is still, quiet, and empty. Even if you hear the laughter of children playing in the snow the air is still cold and empty. Sounds cut through the air but do not fill it…almost as if the snow is rejecting all forms of life so that it may remain as it is: frozen, barren, and pristine in its solitude." She finished and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders as if she felt the very cold she had just spoken of, "What brings you to me though, Gaara? You do not usually seek me out when at home."

"Weather reports indicate the snow will not cease until late tomorrow afternoon if not later and a blizzard warning has been issued as well as a state of emergency for the area and all roads have been closed." Gaara stated and she nodded almost absently as she continued to stare out the window.

"Have Neji and Kankuro made it back?" she inquired still watching the snow fall; she was aware that Kankuro had asked the Hyuga to help him secure the last of his clubs against the wind and snow.

"No. Kankuro just called to tell me that he and Neji are both stuck there until the storm is over." Gaara replied, hiding a smirk at the news that for the next few days Zukiyo was essentially his as there was no Neji to run interference.

A/N: Chapter 8…and next is Chapter 9…and that's almost done all I have to do is edit it. I just had to split the two in half or it would be way too long for my own personal tastes. Anywho…give me some feedback because you know I love it.