"NO! NOOOO! Imou-Saeng! Imou-Saeng! LET GO OF ME! IMOU-SAENG!"

He clung to her, arms tight around her slight, malnourished frame, nearly breaking her, but even that strength was not enough to stop the prying hands, the harsh, irritated growls and snarls, the foreign insults and demands that berated his ears. A large man grabbed his bony shoulders and twisted, popping one out of place while he felt the throbbing agony of an already large bruise on the other. He was wrenched sideways and then back, away from the young woman.

Her pale eyes bled milky white tears as she tried to force her way free, force her way back to him, but it was all doomed effort.

And then, in a flash of heavy stone doors snapping shut like ferocious jaws, the woman was gone.

Lee screamed till he felt his lungs bled as three men held him at bay, one firmly holding onto the leash of his braid, causing him more pain then they would ever known, while another tried valiantly to push his shoulder back into place.

"Quiet!" snapped a blonde woman, holding him with nearly the same strength as the two towering men. "Tú se siguichen!"

He sobbed, feeling so many dizzying emotions in his heavy heart - anger, betrayal, fear, desperation. He struggled more, not because he knew he could escape, but because he could not find comfort with the knowledge that he was trapped.

"He doez no know our lang-age," spoke one of the men with a heavy, crooning accent. "Li'l 'un, ss-tay put."

He whimpered.

"Who'z do zay he know dat language eider?" snapped the man at his braid.

"Id iz de Eard Lang-age," spoke the man again, obviously very confused. "Everyone know dat lang-age."

Lee knew that language as well. Better even than these men appeared to, apparently, but he refused to let them know that.

He refused to let them know anything about him when they had taken away everything that meant anything to him.

"Of course he knows the Earth language!" growled the woman, who, despite still having an accent, spoke the dialect properly. "Couldn't you hear him scream no at the top of his lungs?" She hit him in the back of his head with her elbow, and his world faded in and out for moments afterward.

"- one contender, I will be shocked," he caught the woman saying as he came back into focus.

Suddenly, from outside the room he was being held in, there was a loud, boisterous round of applause.

Lee screamed in agony, confused and worried and terrified.

What would they do to her? What would they do to his imou-saeng? What was going on out there?

The stone doors opened once more and a small man trotted in. He leaned up and whispered into the woman's ear before leaving.

"Naruto, huh?" drawled the woman holding him. She snickered. "Eli tiese suechans."

What did that mean? What did that mean?

He was pushed forward towards the doors. He cried out and pushed back against them. Part of him was desperate to see the fate that had befallen his imou-saeng, but his stubbornness, his fury, demanded that he fight his capturers at every turn, that he let them have nothing from him without a fight.

They pushed and dragged and shoved at him till he was close enough to the doors that he felt the stone's cold seeping into his skin, that he could see the scars and dents in it that must have come from previous captives. Then he was manhandled down a glossy corridor. At the end of it, an open archway of light filtered through with blood and rot in the wind and the cries and hoots of possibly a thousand people. Maybe more.

Faintly, he heard a voice rise above the crowds. But it was still far too low for him to catch everything the voice said. He caught only, "He is a male carrier, ready to be tamed by a strong-willed mate…"

He snarled and threw his head back, bashing someone in the face, yet he had no clue who. The woman hissed with displeasure and slapped him, making his already hurting head throb even more painfully.

The voice was clearer now, louder, and it was declaring, loud enough for those damned souls caught in the heart of Gaia to hear, "For this prize, we will open the Ring at one contender. One contender, MALE 001, two contenders, MALE 002, three contenders MALE 003, four contenders, FEMALE 004…"

He met her blue eyes with his own starless night black ones. They battled without words or weapons as he let her know, without so much as a twitch, that he despised her. That he hated everything she stood for, that he was eager for her demise and the demise of everyone like her, that the forgiveness and contentedness that his people were known for was nowhere to be found.

She leered playfully, mercilessly at him, and, with one hand atop his skull, forced him to face forward as they took that last step out of the darkness into the light.

"The Ring closes at seven contenders. The last contender will have the prize as their mate."

He stood on a pedestal, wearing a fresh white robe over his bony figure, having suffered months of neglect at the hands of human scavengers and traders. Laid out before him was a stadium. What he had thought to be one impossibly loud voice was actually five voices joined together in synchronized speech. Five men stood on a stage at the opposite end of where he stood, hands folded demurely in front of them and sharp eyes focused on him. Between him and the speakers, at ground floor while they were raised, was a fighting ring. There were seven people within it, and they were all looking expectantly at him.

He showed off his fiercest glare as he all but felt their eyes raking over him, as if they could see through his robe, through his skin, to all the traits that made him worthy and priceless. A few of them seemed visibly put out.

One or two appeared ferociously pleased with what they saw.

The blonde woman leaned in close to him, her mouth against his ear, and whispered, "Watch them kill for you, little foreigner."

He jerked, looking at her with not a clue what she meant.

"BEGIN."

Immediately, the few that had looked let down fell flat to the floor, hands spread out away from their bodies in a sign of defeat.

The last four men went at each other with a fervor Lee had only seen in his country's warriors as they were attacking enemies. As if they were attacking murderers. As if each of them was the darkest, foulest creature on earth that had to be removed.

"They're killing each other," he whispered in horror, momentarily forgetting that he had resolved not to speak the Earth Language around his capturers.

"Yes," the blonde drawled. "How else are they going to prove their worth? Only the strongest can have mates. The victor will have you and you will have their children. You should feel proud."

Proud? Proud that other human beings were dying so that they would have the right to rape and impregnate him? Oh, yes, he was so very proud, so incredibly proud, proud enough that he wanted to break free of his capturers and join the fray himself, a saber in one hand and his metal staff in the other as he expressed his pride.

He would show them a barbarian, them and their howling, roaring, cheering observers.

"I don't want this," he said instead, too weak to break free, too injured to work on adrenaline, too alone to make a team effort.

"They want you," the blonde said simply, grinning smugly, as she held him in place, forcing him to either shut his eyes or watch.

There were three men left. Then two. He watched a boy younger than himself fall to the ground in a puddle of his own blood, brown hair tangled around him, brown eyes staring blankly up into the stadium lights.

That left a man with black hair and black eyes and a man with green eyes and white hair.

Even as he watched, he swore something overcame the both of them. Black markings trickled over their naked chests, over naked arms and throats and faces. Their skin paled, became grey, and their eyes swirled.

"Sasuke of the Uchiha Clan, descendent of the Demon Tamer and Prince of the Sharingan," was crooned into his ear. "Kimimaro has no hope of defeating him and then you, my little foreigner, will be Sasuke's plaything. Your kind rarely last with him and, in a few months, he will return to this cage, even bitterer than before." Her tongue flicked against his cheek. "Espero qou mueri. Trust me, I mean the best for you."

He reared back and snapped at her with his teeth. She eyed him dispassionately before she forced him forward again.

One man stood in the center of the cage, spattered with blood, bare from the waist up to show an impressive build, and something supernatural was receding from him.

Grey skin bled to white and golden coin eyes swirled to ink. Long pale purple hair shortened and piqued as raven-wing black. Wings, like scaly hands, melted away.

Lee spun his head around to pin the woman with a look of pure, undulated shock and terror.

She looked dreadfully amused. "Don't you know where you are, little foreigner? This is the Land of the West – the Islands of the Beasts. And you are this particular beast's next meal."

"MALE 006 has won the Ring! MALE 006, Sasuke of the Uchiha Clan, descendent of the Demon Tamer and Prince of the Sharingan, you may claim your prize and mate."

Feeling eyes boring into his flesh, he glimpsed back into the cage.

Sasuke was staring at him.

And he looked hungry.

~""~

Only within the doors of a destination Lee hadn't been able to see from under Sasuke's arm did the man put him down on his own two feet and then lead him forward.

Like a dog.

Around his throat was an intricate platinum and silver collar and a leash made of diamond dust was attached to it, its loop secured around the other man's wrist. Lee's hands were bound behind his back, another bond above his elbows so that he wasn't able to even slip his cuffs around his front. Secured to each of his ankles were weights far heavier than the work loads he used to carry at home, and it made it decidedly harder to run or leap or kick his capturer. It took all of his strength merely to lift one foot and then put it back down a little bit further than it had been, and their pace was slow as Sasuke would occasionally throw him irritated, impatient glares.

He made certain to glare right back at him.

Lee had not asked to be captured from his homeland.

Lee had not asked to be claimed as a slave.

Lee had not asked to be sold to such a handler that would use him as a prize in some a barbaric mating game.

He certainly hadn't asked Sasuke to win said game.

"Sasuke!"

Lee turned his head to see a blonde man barreling down the corridor towards them. He had scars on his cheeks, or maybe tattoos or birthmarks, that reminded him oddly of whiskers, and he had the brightest blue eyes Lee had ever seen. His tan was a farmer's tan, as well as Lee knew, yet he carried himself with such confidence and force that only power could grant.

He wore no shirt, like Sasuke, but wore orange lounge pants that flapped against his defined legs. He was barefoot and his only other item of dress was a crystal secured around his throat with black thong.

He turned his head to study Lee as he passed and gave him a somewhat kind smile and a friendly wave before focusing on the dark man who held him enslaved.

"¿Hake visto wé mi akouple?"

"Swi." Sasuke suddenly pulled on the chain and Lee was sent flying forward into him. An arm came around his waist and pressed him firmly against the man's side, close enough that he felt the fiery heat that rolled off of Sasuke like a blazing summer day. "Esta se mío."

"Ornal opu kaiheo shiyo!" Lee snapped, pushing against Sasuke but to no avail.

Black eyes, as if someone had cut out two small windows into a grave winter night, focused on him. "He is unbroken," he said.

The blonde barked with laughter. "I'll say. Hey, what's your name?"

He debated not saying anything.

Then he thought, they were going to call him something sooner or later, and he would rather have it be his given name than a slave or pet name. "Lee," he answered reluctantly. "I am Lee."

"Lee what?" asked the blonde.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, where are your titles?"

He thought of how long everyone's name was here in the West. Suddenly, it made sense. "We have no titles in the East. We are all equal."

"Really? Damn. Sorry you had to end up here, then. My name is Naruto of the Uzu – er, just Naruto. The bastard who's got you on a leash right now is Sasuke. Mind if I ask you a question, Lee?"

Naruto. That was the name of the blonde woman had mentioned! He felt himself rise to his full height, glowering hatefully at the seemingly kind man.

If Naruto noticed, he didn't let on to the sudden tension that filled the air. "Could you tell me what Onii-saeng means?"

"It means," he growled angrily, "big brother."

"Oh. Oh. Shit, my mate has a big brother around here somewhere! She won't stop crying, no matter what I do, y'kn – WHAO!"

Lee tried, and failed, to bite the man's nose off, and only Sasuke's quick grip came between him and the man's mutilation. Sasuke swung an arm around his throat, pressing down till Lee's world was mottled black and grey and all he could hear was himself greedily sucking at air that refused to come.

Slowly, the pressure abated, and Lee went limp against Sasuke's side in relief and tiredness.

Naruto was scowling at him. "You're her big brother, aren't you?"

He spat in the blonde's face and was viciously pleased when Naruto yelped and swatted at his own face as if a large insect had landed there and refused to release him.

There was a dark, deep chuckle that resounded through his entire body, Sasuke's hand drifted from the top of his scalp to the bottom of his braid, over and over again. He held his breath, feeling each brush throughout his soul. If Sasuke knew what he was dealing with, he didn't let onto it.

"I'm proud to have you already," he purred, and Naruto glared heatedly at them both.

"Yeah, well, I'll fight you for him." Naruto crossed his arms behind his head, eyes made into slits. The stance was visually at ease, yet Lee felt the coiled tension in the blonde, ready to spring and attack at any moment.

"No," Sasuke said simply. "You can try me again after I've tasted him."

Tasted him.

That sounded dirty.

That sounded evasive.

That sounded like Lee wasn't going to be a virgin by the time Sasuke was done with him.

"Hiba det pata!" Naruto snarled. "They're never the same after you 'taste' them! Can't you just get a different one? This one's not really that special…" Now he sounded as if he was merely trying to reason with Sasuke.

Lee hoped so. Even by his own capturers, Lee was not sure how to feel about being termed as not really that special. Even in his homeland, he had always been referred to as something definitely not normal.

"He is special, though. You want him." A hand on his jaw wrenched his head to the side and he felt Sasuke's teeth nip at his jugular. He squirmed and wriggled and tried to throw his fists backwards into Sasuke's belly, but there was no force he could use and all his troubles were rewarded with a lustful grown. Sasuke shifted his hips and something hard and growing was pressed against Lee's bottom. "Nopa desis depann pegou conmim."

Naruto grimaced. "Sasuke, I don't think you want him."

"Why would you think that?"

"From where I'm standing, I think he might be a virgin."

The body behind him tensed.

Lee himself was as strung as a bow. He knew his face was fiery hot and possibly as red as lava, and he knew his shock and fear was apparent, but there was no hiding that.

He had never felt another man's erection pressed against him before.

"A virgin…"

Naruto reacted instantly to the wonder in Sasuke's voice. "Let him go, Sasuke, just, let me take him. You don't know how to treat virgins, alright?"

Lee's struggled increased tenfold as the erection pressed against him only hardened more.

"I killed for him," Sasuke stated imperiously. "Everything he is, everything he has left, is mine."

Sasuke, in a better state of health than Lee, even after the fight he just went through, half-carried, half-dragged Lee with him down the corridor, their destination unknown thus far to him.

He looked with wild eyes back at the blonde. Naruto glared at Sasuke's back, as if ready to attack him anyway.

"N-Naruto!" he called to the blonde, hating that he was being so open with the man. "Tell my imou-saeng to not be afraid and that she is loved!"

As they turned a sharp corner, he saw Naruto nod solemnly. "Pren meve tobay!"

He had not a clue what that meant, but he hoped Naruto had just sworn to do as he wished, despite Lee's less then welcoming greetings.

~""~

He took the room he was in to be Sasuke's private quarters, and he hated to admit that he actually thought it… beautiful.

The floor was tumbled black slate. Tapestries hanging from the walls, ranging from dark blue to bright red to snow white, depicting in one, the beast Lee had seen in the cage, and, in another, a family tree, among other things. There were only three walls and, in place of the fourth, there was a cascading waterfall far enough away that they were not hit with its spray, nor deafened by its roar, but not out of reach either. Its hues of white foam and blue-brown water made Lee stare in perfect awe.

There were not many personal items, he managed to notice after he tore his eyes away from the waterfall (and the question of whether or not it led to a pool or if the room was in the side of a cliff or, even, if the waterfall was simply for decoration). There was a chest and a looming antique wardrobe side by side at one wall and a red marble desk furthest from the waterfall –

Sasuke dropped him heavily on a nest of blankets and pillows, plush and thick and nothing short of a miracle after so long of sleeping on a wooden pallet. It threw him off guard, how comfortable he instantly felt, how his eyes instantly drooped and his exhausted, beaten body screamed for rest the moment the nest melded to his shape and size.

Then Sasuke was above him, using an ornate key to slip him free of his collar and then he was flipped briskly onto his belly so that he could undo the bands that secured his arms and the weights that held his legs down.

So relaxed was he, so very weary, that he didn't realize how submissive and provocative his stance was till Sasuke's hands slipped beneath him to untie the robe and slip it off of him.

Suddenly, he was naked.

Suddenly, Sasuke was too. There was no doubt about that because every bare line of the man's body was pressed flush against him. Sasuke rocked against the crevice of his bottom, sliding dangerously between his cheeks as his hands held Lee's above his head.

Oh, no. Oh, Gaia, no.

He was about to be raped.

He jerked and tried to push himself up, to the side, forward, away, in whatever direction he could move.

"Kalme, mi akouple. Kalm." Sasuke's voice was surprisingly low and gentle and he nuzzled Lee's braid aside so that he could nip and suck the back of his neck.

His manners made his actions no righter, and Lee continued to struggle. His aching muscles pleaded that he fall still, his fuzzy thoughts demanded that he stop thinking, his heavy eyes begged to fall blind, but he kept fighting, and nothing Sasuke crooned into his ear could make him stop.

Finally, Sasuke merely bit the back of his neck, so dominant in his action that Lee was startled still. The rutting that was taking place against his lower half sped up, Sasuke's fluids wetting the crease of his bottom, and Lee was horrified and disgusted to realize that his own body was reacting, though, luckily, far too tired to give a proper response.

"Kori ojag shinsuhae kudsio." The plea slipped out before Lee could swallow it. He refused to beg with his capture, even near tears and very much aware of the fact that Sasuke now held both of his wrists in one hand while the other slipped to stretch his body for Sasuke's forced entrance. He was almost glad that Sasuke did not know his native language.

Then Sasuke was pressing into him and he wished he did, wished that Sasuke knew mercy, wished that he would beg and plead and bargain.

His body was going to be taken, and nothing he had heard about Sasuke suggested that it would be a soft taking.

He closed his eyes tightly and a single milky white tear escaped.

All movement paused as a finger caught it. "What is this?"

Lee swallowed thickly, demanding of himself that he not shed another. "What does it look like?" he snapped.

Sasuke gave him a warning look. "It looks like a pearl."

"I don't even know what a pearl is. That is a teardrop. Doesn't anyone hear cry or is everyone as heartless as you?"

Lee was usually an upbeat character. Helpful, loving, passionate, he had been known for holding no grudges, even against those that had harmed him, and he had loved to find a friend in anyone.

But that Lee was stranded in the skeletal remains of a burnt, desecrated village. Men, women, and children had lost their innocence and their freedom when the slave handlers had forced their way into their homes. Most had even lost their lives.

Aside from his own heart and body, his imou-saeng and the bond they had was all he had had left of his homeland.

It was a rare occasion in history, but Lee wanted to strike out at someone else, he wanted to make someone else hurt, he wanted no one around him to be happy while he was so miserable and ashamed.

He, raised to be a warrior, had failed to save a single soul. Maybe he had helped one or two escape, but there was no proof that they had managed to outrun the slave handlers.

There was no proof, even at this moment, that Naruto was taking good care of his imou-saeng. And the thought that his imou-saeng could be screaming for Lee to save her, could be suffering the same fate as him, shattered his resolve and a second, then third, then fourth tear slipped free.

For the first time in years, he was completely and utterly useless, as helpless as a newborn, and as guilty as a murderer.

Sasuke did not acknowledge his jibe and, instead, traced the tracts of his other tears, catching them on his finger as well, painting his pale skin white. "The last time I saw someone cry," he began, leaving to imagination who that someone could have been and why they were crying to begin with, "their tears were scarlet red."

To Lee's relief, Sasuke pulled back. Lee instantly snapped up a blanket and wrapped it around his lower body, grateful for the barrier between himself and Sasuke's apparent hardness.

"A pearl is developed in the belly of an oyster or mollusk, and they looked exactly like these. Except the ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth." Almost questioningly, Sasuke's tongue came out and licked the trail.

He looked, for a moment, astounded. "It tastes spicy."

"What did you expect it to taste like? Salty?" Lee frowned. "Do your scarlet tears taste like blood?"

Sasuke did not deem that worthy of an answer, apparently, because Lee did not get one.

Then his wintery eyes flickered to his and they were filled with a dark sort of insult. "You don't want me to claim you."

"I do not want to be raped!" Lee cried out.

"I killed for you."

"I did not want that either."

They glared at each other for the longest of moments.

Abruptly, Sasuke leaned forward and their lips were meshed together with Lee having no idea how that had come to be.

He had even less of an idea how to fight it. It was as if his system went into shock, spurts of heat boiling in his blood, sparks of awareness dancing along his skin, his mind on halt, and all sensation went to his mouth, his lips, as they tingled warmly, sliding against fiery chapped lips.

Then the other set of lips were gone and Lee groggily opened his eyes, not the least bit curious in when he had even closed them, only to see Sasuke's smug expression of male pride.

"You," Lee bit out, "are a beast."

Sasuke took his erection in hand, not appearing the least bit shy as he rubbed himself down slowly, speculatively even. He did not seem to care that he was finishing himself off as he leered at Lee. "You're not looking away.

He really wanted to, he told himself.

But the deepest, lightest part of himself that wasn't angry, that could never be angered and could never feel hatred, told him that he would very much like to have what Sasuke wanted to give.

But Lee wasn't that part of himself anymore. Lee was angry. Lee was hurt. Lee was exhausted.

Lee was sick and tired of Sasuke already. He tore his eyes away and put every ounce of loathing he had as he glared at the man. "I don't want you."

"Mentiman." Sasuke released his member.

It bobbed and the motion attracted Lee's attention back. Angrily, he looked away again.

As if he wasn't fully erect, as if he wasn't aroused or lustful, Sasuke stalked right into the nest and laid down next to Lee, throwing one possessive, locking arm around him.

It was on the tip of Lee's tongue to warn Sasuke to not go to sleep, that Lee could, and would, kill him the first chance he got, but he was smarter than that.

He didn't want to give Sasuke any forewarning.

Moments later, Lee was asleep.

Sasuke pulled Lee's waist-length braid over his shoulder and lazily unwound it, letting the inky tendrils lope and tangle around his fingers. The strangest thrill travelled through him at the contact. Lee sighed gratifyingly and, in his sleep, moved closer to the source of scorching heat that was Sasuke.

Unconscious, Lee could not hold onto his hatred, and Sasuke wrapped his second arm around his new mate.

This was a novel experience for him. Never before had Sasuke ever cuddled with one of his mates. Then again, by the end of the first night, his mates were usually crying themselves to sleep on the furthest edge of the nest, or even on the stone floor.

He smirked ravenously as Lee curled into him.

He did not regret any of the lives he had taken that day.

~""~

Language of the East = Japanese+Korean

Language of the West = Spanish+Latin

Earth Language – Language that every being is born understanding, but may, in time, lose the ability to speak unless practiced.

Translations:

Imou-Saeng – little sister – Language of the East

"Tú se siguichen!" – "You're next!" – Language of the West

"Eli tiese suechans." – "She is lucky." – Language of the West

Espero qou mueri. – I hope you die. – Language of the West

"¿Hake visto wé mi akouple?" – "Have you seen my mate?" – Language of the West

"Swi." – "Yes." – Language of the West

"Esta se mío." – "This is mine." – Language of the West

"Ornal opu kaiheo shiyo!" – "Release me!" – Language of the East

Onii-saeng – Big brother – Language of the East

"hiba det pata!" – Cross between "Motherfucker!" and "Bastard!" – Language of the West

"Nopa desis depann pegou conmim." – "Do not stop fighting me." – Language of the West

"Pren meve tobay!" – Cross between "I promise!" and "I vow!" – Language of the West

"Kalme, mi akouple. Kalm." – "Calm, my mate. Calm." – Language of the West

"Kori ojag shinsuhae kudsio." – Cross between "Please do not do this." And "Do not perform this act." – Language of the East

"Mentiman." – "Liar." – Language of the West.

Author's Note: So… As you may now, I've been suffering one hell of a writer's block. So, awhile ago, I asked KakaIru (LordLuciola, Lybellulla, etc…) if she would like for me to write anything for her as a gift. She asked for SasuLee. That was all the way back in the beginning of August.

I got lost for awhile there, so I went to FlippedOutFlippy for advice. She helped me back on the straight and true – and then I completely jumped story ideas and the story she was helping me out on is still unfinished. Hopefully, she won't mind too much…

As a safety precaution, because Fanfiction might not agree with this story, I'm posting it in Y!Gallery as well. Or, at least, that's the plan. If no one sees this pop up within two days, get on me to do that.

Now, let me explain this story – I have no fucking clue where it came from, how it came to be, or why it is the way it is. I started off with something simple, I think – actually, it was going to be futuristic. But then I kept writing and now I have no idea what time period this is. I mashed languages together, which was fun but confusing as well. And I made a new-ish religion! For those who don't know, Gaia is the earth.

This is the first chapter of at least six or eight depending how I split up the draft.

So, yes – gift fic for KakaIru. FlippedOutFlippy, I really did appreciate your help. I LOVE ALL OF YOU.