I woke up suddenly in the night to the absence of Gaara's warm body next to mine. Opening my eyes, I didn't need the blue moonlight streaming through the window to tell me that he wasn't in the room. I gazed lovingly over at Toboe, who slept soundly on his favorite torn pillow.

Easing myself off the bed, I walked to the window to look out on the large courtyard. The night was bright and silent, but I felt the presence of someone nearby.

Raising my eyes to the sky, I saw a dark figure sitting on the rooftop, almost perfectly silhouetted against the white moon. It was him, I was sure of it.

I rested my head against the cool wall and watched him, wishing suddenly that I had the ability to climb up there to meet him.

The figure shifted, and I felt Gaara's cold eyes on me. The figure disappeared into sand, and I felt warm hands on my waist, pulling me back towards him.

"There's my beauty," he whispered in my ear. I turned around and rested my head on his shoulders.

"Why were you out there?" His arms held me to his chest and he exhaled into my hair. "I don't sleep well. I've grown accustomed to watching to moon. It's been my only friend since before I can remember."

I smiled sadly, thinking of the poor life Gaara led before he became Kazekage.

"You have me now," I murmured, not sure what I meant by it. Did he have me? As a wife yes, and as a lover, but I didn't believe I loved him. I didn't think I could.

"Seluni?" he whispered, "Would you like to watch it with me?" I was a bit surprised at his invitation. I had grown used to him liking his solitude.

"Um, sure. How can I . . ." He placed his hands behind my knees and lifted me up. With one quick jump, he landed gracefully on the rooftop of the building, placing me down at his side. Below me to my right was the courtyard, now seen from a new view. To my left was the entire village, its veined streets empty and its buildings as haunting as gravestones. The wind was stronger up there, and I found my hands clinging to his shirt.

Gaara gently pulled me down with him to sit on his lap. His face was comforting and warm against the blue sky. I rested my head on the crook of his neck and felt the warmth his body offered. When had I grown so complacent with being here? I wasn't happy, I knew it. But at times, it felt like the kindness he and Temari showed in the last week was more sincere than that of my own father.

Father, yea right. Half of me wished never to see him again, but the other half wanted to question his knowledge of my birth. But what if he didn't know about me? What if, by asking him, I provided him with the knowledge he needed to disown me?

"Are you cold?" Gaara interrupted my thoughts. "You shivered. Do you want to go back?"

I smiled up at him and kissed his cheek, earning a small look of shock from him. "No, I'm fine. Can we just stay here for a while?" He nodded and turned his gaze back up to the sky.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That morning, I woke up in my bed, in a surprisingly good mood. Gaara was gone, of course. I was up and dressed for breakfast by the time Kankuro knocked on my door.

"I see you're finally getting rid of your lazy habits," he gave his trademark Cheshire cat smile. He glanced over at Toboe wearily. "You dog, on the other hand, could use a good kick awake."

"You stay away from him," I pointed my finger in his face. "Let's get going."

Kakashi wasn't at breakfast, but Gaara was kinder to me than usual. I realized he was getting used to my presence at the table.

After the meal, I walked over to Kakashi's room to find him packing up.

"Going so soon?" I surveyed the pitifully small amount of belongings he had brought. He nodded and continued packing. I sat on his bed and watched him folding a few garments. He was humming lightly.

"Kakashi, I want to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

I fidgeted a bit. "Is there any way you could follow up on finding my heritage? The Inuzukas mentioned a wolf they could have brought that would help. Can you find a reason to bring him here?"

Kakashi sighed and stopped packing. He rubbed his temples and sat down next to me. "I've done all I can do, Seluni. We've already had this conversation."

"Then I have no choice but to find out for myself." That spiked his interest.

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I'll go to Konoha by myself. I'll find them, or anyone else who can help me."

His eyebrow rose. "You wouldn't even know where to look."

"Well, I'll try!" I stood up. "This is not an empty threat, Kakashi, if you can't help me then I'll leave. I don't need to be here. I got nothing out of the deal, so nothing is holding me back."

"Seluni . . ."

"And, if I leave, this marriage of convenience will be void and you've failed your mission." He hesitated. I had hit the right spot. Yes!

Kakashi groaned and rubbed his clothed chin. "You leave me no choice then. You're sure you want to know?"

"I am."

"Troublesome woman. Okay, I'll go back to Konoha and try to convince them to return. But it won't be easy finding a second excuse."

"I understand. But please try; I don't know how much longer I can bear to wait around here."

He studied my face. "Seluni, promise me you won't take any actions until you hear from me. And remember that, even if we find something out, you have to think of the Wind as your home now."

I nodded. "I promise. And thank you for helping me, Kakashi."

He smiled and walked me to the door. "I really don't have a choice, do I?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As I walked back to my room, I saw Gaara standing just outside my door.

"Where have you been?" his face was stern.

"Just saying goodbye to Kakashi," More or less the truth.

He watched me open my door. "You seem to be seeing quite a lot of him lately." As I walked inside, he followed, clearly ready for an explanation.

"I just like talking to someone who's as unfamiliar with the Wind as I am. That's all, Gaara." I didn't like having to explain myself to him. But I did feel guilty about being the cause of suspicion. Marriage was about the truth, wasn't it?

He stepped near me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Well, he's leaving for good now, and I have you all to myself." The growl in his voice scared me. I pushed him away and picked up Toboe, who was waiting expectantly at my feet. His tail wagged as he licked my face.

Giggling at the gesture, I held him out to Gaara. He looked at the wolf in disgust and then back to me. "Why do you keep that thing? I don't like dogs."

"He's not a dog, he's a wolf. And he'll be here as long as I am." I surprised myself with my defensiveness.

Gaara shook his head and lowered my hands to lean in and kiss me. "I'm not willing to share you, even with him. Come on, I want to show you something."

He took my hand and led me down the corridor and out of the building. As he took me through the streets of the village, I could feel every eye watching us. Was it so uncommon for the Kazekage to be out, or was it because I was with him?

Eventually we reached a wide empty opening between the outer wall and other buildings. Gaara walked into the center and turned to me.

"This is the training ring, where shinobi practice. Now, I know this is all foreign to you, but I want you to try a bit of fighting, for protection if nothing else."

"You want me to fight?"

"If you get put into a situation where I can't help you, I want to know you have some sort of strength to defend yourself."

I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. "Gaara, I gave that up a long time ago. Even if I learnt to attack without chakra, I could never really put up a fight."

He stepped towards me, his face blank, but I could tell he was a second away from exploding. "Listen to me, Seluni, I'm not used to being disobeyed. I want you to learn to fight, so you will. Now enter the ring."

Did I have a choice? I approached him and he drew a kunai out from his robes. Tossing it to me, he said, "Now come at me with the intent to kill."

"Gaara . . ."

"Now."

I sighed and looked at the dagger in my hand. I hadn't held one in years, but it was comfortable to have power like that in my grasp. I gripped the handle and ran to Gaara with no real plan of attack. Jumping up, I tried to slice the weapon down at his shoulder. The kunai, as well as the rest of me, ran straight into an instant wall of sand.

I stepped back and rubbed my nose. "Gaara, how can I try to attack you if I can't even get near you?"

"Try again." I ran around to his side, aiming at his waist, and tossed the knife at him. Without him even turning to look at me, his sand blocked the knife and I jogged to a halt behind him.

"Again."

After several attempts, I plopped onto the ground to catch my breath. Gaara's harsh gaze remained on me as I fingered the knife.

"Your enemies will not give you a break like this. Get up."

I stood shakily. "This is pointless!" I yelled in frustration. "I'm never going to learn this, I never could!"

I looked at the ground and saw his feet appear before mine. "Is that what you've been taught," he asked, "to give up so easily, to accept your fate without question? I know better than anyone that it's possible to change yourself. You can earn your worth by never giving up. Are you ready?"

I gripped the kunai tightly and nodded.

"Again!"