I stepped out of the bath and dried myself off, wrapping myself in a soft cotton robe. Walking back into my room with my hair dripping down, I saw a single red rose placed on my bed. There was no note.

I picked it up and examined the beautiful flower. Its crimson petals gracefully folded over its edges and scented the room with a sweet perfume.

Had it been from Gaara, as an apology for the night before? And what did he remember of it?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Stop, Gaara, let me go! This isn't you, its Shukaku. Don't let him take your wife."

He laughed, raising the sand so that I was standing up, still trapped to the sand behind me.

"Does it matter, whether it's him or me that takes you?" His voice was deep and lustful as he pulled me back to him. My struggling had ceased; I had exhausted myself in trying to escape. I could only try to talk my way out of this.

"You are the demon, aren't you? Why can't you leave him alone?"

He laughed again, in a voice deeper than Gaara's. "Oh, he wants me here. He needs me inside of him to be strong. Without me, he's nothing. And without you . . . well, living in a boy's body is hardly fun unless he uses it. Understand?"

He stroked my cheek with his finger, then grabbed my throat and pulled me to him into a kiss. I turned my head away.

"Don't you care whether Gaara wants it or not?" I gasped in his grip.

He smirked and suddenly thrust his hips into mine, letting me feel a large bulge from through his robes.

"Feel that, sweetie? That's all him. He wants this. He just doesn't have the courage to act."

He put his mouth to my ear, licking it before whispering, "I can hear him, Seluni, when I take control. He's shouting now, begging for me to stop. Says you're not married yet; as if that makes a difference to me. The boy doesn't even know what's good for him. That's where I come in."

My mind was racing with scenarios where I could escape. But no one was nearby, and I was weak. The only one who could save me now was Gaara himself.

"Gaara, listen to me! I know you can hear. You have to fight him, you – "

Pounds of sand covered my face and tightened around my throat, cutting off my air supply. I struggled, panicked, thinking I was going to die, when all the sand fell from around me and I threw my hands up to guard my throat.

I caught my breath and imagined that Gaara had beaten Shukaku again, just in time. But then I saw that we were no longer in the hallway. Gaara stood next to me in a dimly lit room. On the other side of him was a bed.

My eyes widened. "No, Shukaku, please let me go!" He grabbed my arm tightly and pulled me to my feet.

"You have no right to address me, human." His eyes flashed in anger as he threw me onto the bed. He approached me slowly with a dangerous expression.

He climbed onto the bed and crawled onto me, straddling my hips with his legs. I could once again feel the bulge in his robes as he leaned into the crook of my neck and began nipping at it with increasing roughness.

I moaned in sinful pleasure but tried pushing him off of me. My attempts were met with sand wrapping around my wrists and ankles that kept me to the bed. I watched in dazed awe as thousands of grains of sand circled above us in a soothing way that made my struggles weaken. He will be my husband, a voice murmured within me.

I felt a strange peace wash over me in accepting what would happen, so that I hardly felt the warm hands that ran up my shirt and around my chest, rubbing my breasts and causing the man above me to heave hot breaths into my neck.

Gaara was so concentrated on me that he didn't hear someone appear behind him. My eyes were open, however, and I saw Kakashi take a moment to survey the scene before interrupting us.

"Kazekage." He whispered boldly.

Gaara's head whipped around to view the ninja. "What are you doing here?" he hissed. Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"I know you are the demon controlling him now." Kakashi said firmly. "Gaara, you hear me too. I won't let you touch her until you are married. I'm here to make sure this marriage runs smoothly, and your actions now are a threat to that."

Gaara hesitated. Apparently, Shukaku was turning over the possibilities in his mind. I held my breath, praying that the demon cared about the peace treaty, or at least wanted to avoid fighting Kakashi.

Gaara leapt off the bed to face Kakashi. His hand raised and sand slowly began crawling up Kakashi's legs.

"Demon, do you know what you're doing?" Kakashi asked calmly.

The sand traveled farther up his legs. The ninja's covered face remained unchanged as he unsuccessfully tried to pull himself free. Gaara's eyes closed as he smiled at the situation.

There was nothing I could do to free Kakashi, but Gaara's closed eyes gave me a chance, and I took it. I leapt off the bed and threw my arms around Gaara. Having temporarily caught him off guard, I squeezed him tightly, and whispered his name in his ear, hoping to reach the real Gaara inside.

There was a moment of silence where I feared he would throw me off of him. But Gaara's hand fell to his side and he pulled me away to look into my eyes. I saw his expression change from the twisted look of Shukaku to Gaara's own handsome face, before his eyes rolled over and he slumped to the floor, me falling down with him.

I lifted myself up and pulled Gaara into my lap. I wiped back the tears that tickled my cheeks, as I examined his calm unconscious face.

"Gaara . . ." I whispered.

Kakashi put his hand on my shoulder. The sand had released when Gaara lost consciousness.

"Seluni, let me take him to the infirmary." He said gently. "Go back to your room and get a good night's sleep."

As if I could. I watched Kakashi lift the man up from my lap and carry him out the door. I stared at the empty threshold for a minute before clumsily getting to my feet and walking back to my room.

I was in a daze while walking back to my room, and was surprised when I found my own door in front of me.

I must be getting used to finding my way around, I mused.

The last thing I thought of before I fell asleep was how nice it would be to have a normal day again.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I placed the rose back down on my bed, and then changed into some decent clothes before breakfast.

As usual, Kankuro came in to wake me up, and was surprised that I wasn't sleeping late for once.

"Getting used to our time schedule, finally?" he asked with a grin. I suddenly had the urge to wipe that permanent smile off his face.

"Kankuro, Gaara told me you'd be doing my laundry from now on," I lied with a sweet smile.

He scowled and looked at my overflowing hamper. I had refused to wear one outfit for long because of all the sand that got into the clothes. That would take some getting used to.

"You're kidding. Fine, if Gaara said so . . ." he mumbled and shut the door. I laughed at my own genius.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gaara wasn't at breakfast. His empty seat seemed like an insult to me as I ate in silence again, since Kakashi was decidedly ignoring me. I missed the personal and casual talk of meals back home.

I have to get away from this place, if only for a while.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After breakfast, I dressed to go out into the town, fully aware that I had nowhere to go. Walking out of the building was easy, as the guards now knew my face. I stepped into the streets and wandered around, looking at the shops and the people, trying to decipher why they would choose to live in such a dreary place.

At one clothing store I visited, I got the feeling I was being watched. Peering over a rack of robes, I saw that several of the women in the store were looking at me and whispering. I ducked back out of sight, pulling my scarf over my face, and left.

I was in such a hurry to leave that I bumped into someone just outside the store, sending me sprawling to the ground. A hand was extended to me. I took it and saw Kakashi's face as I pulled myself up.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Just tried to get away from uh . . ." I glanced into the window and saw the group of women just behind the glass, staring openly at me. Great, they saw me fall.

"You weren't running from any other attackers, were you? You seem to attract mischief."

"As if you could protect me."

He gave a fake expression of hurt. "Okay, so I wasn't at my best fighting performance last night. But you're okay, and more importantly, I'm okay, aside from a few sand burns."

I sneered at his arrogance. "Didn't you have something to tell me?"

"Ah, yes. Walk with me, and keep your voice low."

We headed out down the city street, two figures, faces covered, speaking so calmly about the unthinkable conspiracy that could jeopardize the peace between nations. Kakashi got right to the point.

"When I asked you to perform a jutsu, drawing out your chakra, I noticed something vaguely familiar about it, something I couldn't put my finger on. I thought a lot about it, and finally realized that your chakra had waves similar to the Inuzuka Clan of the Fire Country."

"Inuzuka Clan?"

"They specialize in canine-like jutsus, and each clan member has a dog or wolf companion they live and fight with. It's a possibility you might have some Inuzuka blood in you. But there's a great deal of other chakra as well, which means you aren't anywhere near being considered part of their clan."

"Okay, so I come from people who like dogs. That's hardly something to discuss. Any other news?"

"Seluni, I don't think you're taking this seriously. What you aren't considering is how your lack of proper lineage will affect you in the future."

It took a minute for his words to sink in.

"Wait, you don't mean . . . kids?" he nodded. "Kakashi, damn it, I'm not even married yet!"

"You have to think ahead. What if your children don some mark that proves you aren't the child of the Raikage? Do you want to explain to Gaara why your child doesn't resemble the Lightning and the Wind?"

I grimaced at the thought.

"Alright, I see your point. What can I do?"

"I've already gotten started. I sent out a letter asking one of the Inuzuka members to visit the Wind. While they are here, they and their dogs will meet you and hopefully will figure out if you are in fact related to their clan."

I rubbed my temples and glanced up at the street ahead.

"What excuse did you give for them coming here?"

He shrugged. "I'll think of something when the time comes. But for now, I believe that's Temari and Kankuro approaching."

I focused my gaze on the two shinobi, Kankuro with his hands in his pockets and Temari's hand up in a wave to me.

"Huh. And here I was thinking I couldn't be recognized with my face covered."

"Ah. Well, seeing as it's not working, you might as well remove the scarf. Don't think you flatter me by stealing my look."

I aimed a punch at his shoulder but missed by a mile as he dodged it.

"And on that note, I take my leave." He smiled boldly and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

I was grumbling to myself about rude men when the two shinobi approached. Temari, significantly less bandaged then yesterday, threw me a hug and invited me to walk with them.

"What were you doing with Kakashi just now?" she asked.

"I just ran into him a minute ago. We were discussing the wedding." More or less the truth.

Temari pouted. "Why did he leave so soon? I wanted to invite him out to lunch."

"What're you going after him for?" Kankuro smiled mischievously. "I thought you liked that lazy kid in Konoha."

Temari smacked him upside the head in retort. "I don't like that brat, I just enjoy his company."

Kankuro grimaced and massaged the spot on his head. "Damn, Temari, take a joke."

"Maybe if you'd tell better ones, I'd laugh!"

"What's funnier than your lack of love life? Ow! Cut it out!"

"You baby. Hey Seluni, what's wrong?"

I realized I had been staring off into space during their spat.

"Nothing's wrong!" I said too quickly. I had been thinking about my conversation with Kakashi.

"Was it something Kakashi said?"

"No, not at all," I flinced inwardly at how close to the truth she was.

The two looked at me suspiciously before Temari nodded in understanding.

"You're homesick, aren't you? Well, let's go out for lunch. No one will mind, and it'll cheer you up!"

"Sure, that'd be great."

That was too close, I thought. I had better keep my guard up around them now.

xxxxxxxxx

Ok random note – I found a song that could be made for Gaara – "Blood Red Sandman" by Lordi.

I recommend it, that's all.

And a big thanks to all reviewers!