A/N: Here is the next chapter. Some Zu and Gaara time like I know you all want…well it's not entirely what you want because you're not always going to get what you want…especially with me because I'm evil. Read on and see what it is and leave me some feedback.

Chapter 13: Trust

Dawn. The accursed harbinger of day flooded the valley with a dim yet ever brightening light beyond the specially tinted windows of the house while Gaara sat watching. He would be forced to shut the drapes soon regardless of the special windows as it would be too bright for him to stand. For now he sat in a chair somewhere in the North wing of the great house thinking.

The past few weeks had taught him many things about the female he spent so much time with. Merciless when killing, yet capable of a certain tenderness that even he found endearing, Zukiyo somehow managed to be the main occupant of his thoughts these days. More and more often than he'd like to admit Gaara was finding that there were certain things he liked about her other than she was a highly attractive, blood thirsty, female of his species.

Among those things was her smile. She had many different ones, from psychotic to charming, but he liked them all. They suited Zu in a way he never thought possible for a person. He had witnessed her frown on several occasions and couldn't help but think that it seemed so out of place on her. It surprised him when he actually admitted to himself that he much preferred Zu happy and smiling.

He had known from very early on that he liked her personality. It was different from the others he dealt with nightly. She was charming, that couldn't be denied, and had no fear of him. Almost everyone Gaara had ever met was afraid of him if they were weaker than him yet Zukiyo wasn't. This of course confused him at first but over the months she had been with them Gaara learned he liked that she had no fear of him. This also surprised him when he admitted it.

It also surprised Gaara when he admitted to himself that he liked it when she sat in his lap. Whether it was because she was so warm or because she wasn't afraid of him Gaara found that he enjoyed it. He would still voice a complaint but his heart wasn't in it as it had been before.

He couldn't deny that she was starting to get to him but he was getting to her too. There was a slight noticeable difference in her when she was with him, especially when she sat on his lap or was otherwise close to him, which made him believe that Zu was starting to like this as much as he did. Gaara wasn't sure how he knew it but he could somehow sense that the female felt more comfortable around him than others. His night wasn't complete if she didn't seek him out in her search for company.

The light filled the room to an unbearably bright level forcing him to get up and pull the drapes shut before he sat back down in his seat to relax. His black rimmed eyes had just closed when he heard the familiar sound of footsteps on the wood floors. They were tired and almost shuffling as they came ever closer. The red head caught the person's scent and opened his eyes.

"What is it, Zu?" he asked as he turned his eyes on her and watched her walk closer.

Wrapped in a blanket and in PJs the female rubbed at one of her eyes tiredly and yawned as she shuffled up to him. He wasn't expecting it yet wasn't terribly surprised when she sat down in his lap.

"Couldn't sleep," she mumbled tiredly as she curled up into his lap and laid her head on his shoulder as she cuddled into him and his arms wrapped around her of their own accord, "Comfy…"

This surprised him. Not that his arms wrapped around her, he had long since admitted to himself that he enjoyed holding her for some reason beyond his ability to understand. It was that she had cuddled into him in an almost…affectionate manner as she curled up against him. Then again she was half asleep and her guard was down meaning she was apt to do things she otherwise never would.

"I'm not your bed, Princess." He stated as he glanced down at her half lidded light grey eyes.

"Comfy…warm." She mumbled again as her eyelids drooped down a bit more while she cuddled into him more and Gaara realized she was drifting asleep.

"Zu…you should get to bed." He stated and immediately felt her fingers latch onto his shirt.

"Comfy." She stated once again, almost as if she was pleading for him to let her stay, and fell asleep unintelligibly murmuring softly.

He was shocked to say the least. This was something entirely new for her as Zu never let her guard down around him so much. Still he wasn't going to protest about it. In some strange way, he realized, this pleased him. In what way he was not sure. Looking down at her he watched her breath steadily and slowly in her slumber as he found himself content with this although confused. What had caused her to do this he did not know since usually she used Neji as a pillow. Either the Hyuga wasn't home or Gaara had just become her new favorite. Either way Zu was there in his arms asleep.

It amazed him in a way. When awake she was a teasing, seductive, bloodthirsty killer but when she was asleep a whole different side of her came to surface. Gaara couldn't deny that there was a certain sweetness about her as she cuddled into him and slept while gripping his shirt. It was endearing and cute to him in ways he just could not deny or understand.

Maybe she was making him soft and that's where all this was coming from, but at that moment the red head found that he didn't really care. A piece of her curled dark brown hair fell into her face making her nose twitch in a way that made him smile softly before he gently brushed it back behind her ear as he thought.

He still wanted to discover what it was that Naruto knew about her that he did not. As for why Naruto thought that Zu was worth his time, Gaara had figured that out on his own a few days past. That reason was simply that Zu and he were compatible and seemed to balance each other. She calmed him in a way and he calmed her. He wasn't sure what exactly he felt for her if anything but he didn't think he could kill her in the end…he would miss her too much.

At the very least, he decided, Zukiyo was a friend and he valued her company and even craved it at times. For one so accustomed to being alone Gaara found that he didn't mind being with her so frequently. Perhaps he was more attached than he'd like to admit, but with her trusting him enough to sleep where she was Gaara didn't care. A rare smile crept up on his face as he felt her nuzzle her head into the crook of his neck while he dozed off himself, making a decision that contradicted his former intentions towards her. As he decided this and fell asleep he was unaware of her dreaming.

Wind chimes rang out softly in the distance as she ran through the garden of her childhood home. Other than that and the soft sound of the wind rustling through leaves the world was silent. Barefoot she ran down the stone worked path searching for something.

"Zukiyo." A voice called out to her from somewhere within the garden's walls.

She ran towards it, her grey eyes searching desperately for she knew not what or who. All she knew was she needed to reach it.

"Zu…Zu…Zukiyo." Zu heard a voice call to her again she ran even faster towards it, "Zu…Zu…"

Running as fast as she could along the path in the garden Zu searched for the source of the voice calling out to her then fell as the ground disappeared around her in that all too familiar dream and she screamed until she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and pull her back up to solid ground. She caught a familiar scent as it did but couldn't place it as her surroundings shifted to something else…still she caught sight of something red blurring in her vision before it did.

Sometime later Zukiyo woke up feeling slightly disoriented as she didn't quite remember where she was. When she felt a pair of arms slightly tighten around her she recognized the scent that filled her every breath: Gaara, and looked up at him. He was asleep. Her thoughts immediately drifted from questioning how she arrived in her current location to how adorable and innocent Gaara looked while sleeping.

"How could anyone be afraid of him when he's like this?" she thought with a small and tender smile until she realized what she was doing which forced her to think about it.

More and more Zu found herself sitting on him like this from just the desire to be close to him. Slowly she was starting to understand why that was. For some reason unknown to her she felt a sense of safety when near him. It confused her since she knew very well that Gaara was dangerous, could kill her at any moment, and only wanted to get what information he wanted from her before most likely killing her…or at least he did. Recently she'd been noticing a slight change in his interactions with her. They were less hostile and there was something else in his eyes at times when they went about their usual routine.

Zukiyo was not entirely sure what it was but she knew it meant she was letting him get too close. She was letting her guard down too much around him. She was…she was trusting him with things and with herself. It had to end.

"It's too dangerous. You're losing control of your own emotions, Zu, it's time to end it. Any closer and you'll be too emotionally invested in something that will never work…" She told herself as she looked over the red head's sleeping face, "Still…look at him. He's so…sweet looking almost. That and you tried already to stay away from him and failed. What the Hell is this? You are Kamitsuyo Zukiyo. You can handle it. Tease him, flirt if you want, be friendly but that's it. Nothing more. It can never go any farther than that."

It was hard to convince herself of this however. The exiled princess did not know why that was exactly, only that she didn't really believe herself. Every cautious fiber in her was screaming at her to stop everything involving Sabaku no Gaara immediately, but…she couldn't. Not while sitting there cuddled into the lap of this sleeping vampiric lord as he looked so incredibly at peace.

"Pull away, Zukiyo. You're dangerously close to making a very big mistake…you remember what happened the last time you let your emotions rule. You have no reason to think that this time will be any different and you know Gaara wants to get information out of you more than anything so stop this foolishness and move." She once again told herself but instead felt the male's arms tighten around her slightly in his sleep almost as if his subconscious could read her thoughts, "A little longer…shouldn't make that much of a difference. After this though you must distance yourself from him...oh but gods he is so warm and comfy…and so cute right now. No, no, no, no, stop this thinking. He may be cute and attractive but you know you can't act on it. It's too risky."

Risk. So much risk involved in every little detail of her life right now. She hated it so much. All Zu really wanted was to be free. The closest she'd gotten to that while being in exile was…with him. He pretty much let her do as she pleased since it seemed to please and amuse him. Still she couldn't really trust Gaara.

The gypsy smiled a bit as the red headed male's nose twitched a bit in his sleep. She found it cute in a way and gave in to an urge as she kissed his cheek before resting her head back down on his shoulder until he woke a short time later.

"Still using me as a bed…" was the first thing out of his mouth, trying to come off as irritated but Zu heard the amusement underneath that feigned tone of irritation.

"Mmhmm." She confirmed as she got comfy just to annoy him a bit out of nothing but habit, "You know you don't mind…you probably like it and are just trying to lie to yourself about it."

The red head looked at her remembering the decision he reached last night. He knew Zukiyo had to trust him to some extent and favor him for her to have fallen asleep on him but what he wanted to know was how much she trusted him and favored him. Gaara knew for certain that he couldn't kill her anymore as he looked at her. Something about her and the way she interacted with him made him feel…things…and he liked it. After all he liked a great many things about Zukiyo, this was just one more thing to add to that list, and he was not going to lie to himself about it. Of course that part might just be out of a desire to prove her wrong…

"I do like it. You're very warm…" he admitted to her, acting on what he decided last night: take Kankuro's advice by being nice and to just see what would happen if he was completely honest with her.

Zukiyo blinked a bit. She wasn't sure of what to make of what he just said. He just admitted to liking…this. So many mixed feelings erupted in her that it confused her. Expectedly it worried her she had let him get to close to her and had gone too far with teasing him, and yet unexpectedly…it pleased her.

"Zukiyo…don't you dare do what I think you're starting to do. It is dangerous…besides he still doesn't know what you are. Do you really think he'll treat you the same after he learns the truth? Do you think he's going to be happy about it?" she asked herself as she felt herself ever so slightly lean against him more as his arms teasingly pulled her closer.

"Is there a problem with that…Princess?" the red head asked teasingly and wickedly.

"I have been spending too much time around you…" Zukiyo stated.

"Well that's your own fault. If you don't want me to pick up your habits…don't spend so much time with me." Gaara stated, teasing her really, and released her, "Now, I have things to attend to today so you need to get up off of me."

"I would have done so sooner if you let go of me sooner." Zu stated and got up off of his lap, "If it impedes your schedule so much I won't do it again."

With that Zu walked away leaving Gaara confused. She had honestly sounded irritated with him. Little did he know that it was just Zukiyo trying to find any reason at all for her to stay away from him.

Zukiyo was a princess. Yukiko had declared her stripped of her title but any idiot knew that the title of Heir Apparent could never be stripped. That meant that Zu still held her title…and that what Gaara thought, that she had no titles, was a lie. Even though she had all the reason in the world to hide her titles from him Zu still knew she couldn't expect him to accept her for what she was when he did discover the truth. Therefore it was just better for her to pull away from him…before she made that same mistake again.

"No matter how much you think you can trust him, Zu…he will hurt you in the end when he finds out what you are. You are a princess, the Heir Apparent, and an exiled royal. He is part of the vampiric nobility due to his strength, yes, but…there is no reason for you to think he'll continue to treat you the same as he does now when he discovers the truth." She told herself as she walked to her room, "It's…it's better this way. Trust is leaving yourself vulnerable and you cannot be vulnerable if you are to survive…because he will only disappoint you. You know that is a fact, they all disappoint you in the end, so end it. Stay away…before you fall any deeper."

A/N: Yeah the next chapter…I give you all some fluff and then TEAR IT ALL DOWN LIKE THE ESSENCE OF PURE EVIL. *cough* ahem…excuse me…Review and such. Next chapter will be out soon…MAYBE, if I'm feeling generous it will reveal who hurt our vampiric princess.