Sand and Wind

Chapter 8- Return to Life

A/N: This is for MysticMoon.

Loosing her fan could not have come at a worse time for her. It was the last straw that kept her on the futon with tears in her eyes. Her brother's cruel rejection only brought her mind back into focus. After Gaara had left she slowly made her way into the adjoining bathroom. Temari hissed as she saw her reflection. Large purple bruises surrounded by yellowing skin graced most of her form. Where the discolorations left off dry, red skin took over. She lowered her gaze and stared at her feet for the longest time.

For some reason the chipped paint on her toenails made her want to cry. She knelt down with a wince and inspected her foot. A small silver ring encircled her middle toe. Curious she removed the metal circle and inspected it. Etched faintly into the inner band were three words.

You are mine.

Nothing else. She threw the toe ring into the sink. The band bounced a couple of times; each landing was accompanied by a musical ting of metal against porcelain. She stripped off what was left of her clothing and stepped into the shower. She realized early on that only ice cold water could give her relief. The freezing stream cascaded over her skin both moistening and chilling her. Her eyes remained closed as she groped for shampoo. When her hand encountered a warm patch of skin instead of a smooth bottle, her black eyes snapped open.

Shock coursed through her system at the sight of the pale body before her. Lightly defined muscles rippled with power underneath almost translucent skin. Water dripped from crimson hair that had only begun to droop with moisture. Long fingers devoid of calluses reached for her. Temari could not move even if she had wanted to. Somewhere in the back of her mind a voice screamed that this was not her brother.

Green eyes as cold as the water streaming from the showerhead regarded her nude form. The male's body could not hide its interest from her. As Temari caught a glimpse of the hardened member her immobility released. The distance between them widened as she forced herself to the wall.

"What are you doing in here?" Her voice shook as she received no response from her silent companion. He simply knelt and grasped her right foot. She felt his warm fingers in stark contrast to her chilled toes. Temari felt the band of silver sliding onto her toe before the motion of the other body pinned her to the wall she had been supporting herself on. His body placed only inches from hers kept her still just as effectively as his sand would.

"You are mine." His voice snarled out, contradicting his calm countenance. "Do not take that off again." Then she was alone once more. Shaken she slipped down the wall and hugged her knees to her now shivering body. Temari felt more violated now than she had from her experience with Sasuke. And Gaara had only touched her foot.

She drew in a huge breath of air and exhaled noisily. Temari gathered her strength and removed herself from the shower. Carefully she spread cream on her burns and went in search of clothing. She found that with some careful pinning and a decorative scarf, borrowed from the curtains, her ruined dress could at least cover enough to get her home.

She steeled her nerves and opened the window that her ruined fan hung out of. Carefully she drew the mangled weapon inside. It took some tedious movements, but finally it was safe leaning against the futon vaguely reminiscent of its owner's placement there.

The closer view almost broke her heart. The wood frame was cracked down to the base and most of the supporting beams were completely broken off. The heavy parchment that she had painstakingly infused with her own charka was soaked in blood, whether it was her own or Sasuke's she could not tell. The paper, now useless, hung listlessly from the splintered wood. The dots that had taken her hours to draw in circular perfection were now gone.

How had her fan gotten to this point? A quick flash and she could see Sasuke looming over her, using her own fan to shade them.

Her mind forcibly blanked out whatever had happened out at the oasis. She knew then that she would never be able to return there. As she carefully folded the remnants of her fan Gaara's odd behavior trickled into her thought process. Twice now he had completely broken out his shell and gotten closer to her than normal. True there had been something very odd in his eyes during those times. Temari gasped.

"Shukaku." She breathed out. That was it. Her brother's demon had been taking over her body. And it wanted her. Suddenly his behavior made sense. Except for the fact that she was sure that raccoons had no interest in human females. 'Unless he had been in a human male's body for over seventeen years.'

Out of habit she slung her fan over her shoulder and grimaced as several slivers of wood entered her skin. She drew her lips into a thin line and jumped out of the second story window and leapt towards home.

A/N: I need some help here. Would someone who knows the annoying little details of this anime contact me on AIM? My screen name is FlameArchanist. I need someone to correct me before I post these things. My current beta is too busy with her boyfriend.