A/N - Ouch. I know it's been a long time. But I'm finally on vacation, which means more leisure time to finish the story! – and thank you all so much for reviewing. Only a few more chapters to go!!

---------------------

On our way back to the hospital, neither of us said a word, nor even looked at each other. I was deep in thought about the letter still clenched in my hand.

We were still deep in the forest when a hand roughly grabbed my wrist and threw me against a tree.

"Sasuke, what the hell?" I shouted, thinking he was trying to snap me back to reality. Instead, he pushed himself against me, pinning me to the tree. I tried to shove him off of me, to no avail. He was strong enough to hold me in place without much effort, with one hand on each of my arms.

"No more," he said. His head was lowered, his eyes hidden from view. "This is not the way I should have found you, the last heir. But I have to deal with the situation properly."

"What are you talking about?" I shrieked, panicking from the sudden, meaningless attack. "What do you mean you've found me? What situation?"

He paused as he raised his dark eyes to mine, and I had to suppress the chill they gave me. "I have always had only two goals in life. To kill my brother, and to revive my clan. I accomplished one. My brother has been dead for a year. Now, Seluni, you're going to help me with the other."

My head swam with the information. Revive his clan – he didn't mean -

"Are you insane, Sasuke? I'm married to Gaara. What do you think you're doing?"

He leaned his head in to breath deeply into my neck. "Something I've been owed for a long time."

"You aren't owed anything! Hey - Get off of me!"

His hand slid up my thigh and pulled my shirt up my side. His fingers grazed my bra as he whispered, "I already told you, I am the son of the head family. You were a member of a branch family. Which means I have power over you. I own you. I'm simply taking what's mine- oof!"

He exhaled sharply at my well-placed kick to his groin. The moment his grip loosened, I ripped my arms from his hands and shot into the forest. I didn't care that I didn't know where I was going, but I had to get away from this guy whose lunacy rivaled Gaara's.

Darting around trees and in a direction away from the Uchiha compound and from Sasuke, I realized with a groan that he was a shinobi, and he would catch up with me in no time flat.

I only got about a hundred feet away when there was a rustle of leaves behind me. I quickly skirted around a dense patch of trees, only to run straight into the Uchiha. He immediately grabbed my neck and squeezed tight, keeping me at arm's length.

His Sharingan blazed down on me in hatred as I choked, desperately trying to peel his fingers away. My eyes grew wide and my throat was on fire. Was he going to kill me?

Sasuke threw me on the ground and stood at my side with a kunai in hand. I stared at the sharp blade as he spoke.

"Stop trying to resist, Uchiha Seluni. You'll only make it worse for yourself."

I gritted my teeth and spoke hoarsely from my bruising throat. "My name," I said angrily, "Is Kazekage no Seluni. I belong to him, to Gaara, not you!"

A flash of metal and Sasuke's kunai landed an inch from my ear, shaking with the force of the throw. I swallowed difficultly and met his eyes.

"No!" he shouted, "You never were from Kumogakure or wherever, you never were a Kage's to sell or a Kage's to own. I am the last male of our clan and you belong to me – married or not!"

I couldn't deny that what he said had hurt. I was forced to consider his point. I never was my father's daughter. Was the peace treaty valid? Was the marriage even valid?

Of course it is, I realized. Being with Gaara was no longer about a stupid deal for political gain. It was real, it was what made me happy, and it would last forever. Sasuke could try all he wanted to renounce the legitimacy of the marriage; it wouldn't change a thing.

"Sasuke," I tried not to flinch under his stare. "I'm sorry about what happened to you, to your clan. But you can find someone else to be with, because it's not me, and you can't force something that will never happen."

As I spoke I prepared to grab the kunai in the ground. I reached up with my left hand to take it, yet in one swift movement, Sasuke's foot rested heavily on my wrist.

"I'm leaving, Sasuke." I murmured, trying to get up. But his shoe pressed me back to the ground. I felt anger boiling inside me. He was trying to trap me like an animal, trying to force me to stay. I hated him now, more than ever. My breath quickened and my adrenaline pumped with my rising anger.

"Get. Off. Me." I spat as I saw sparks and swirls of chakra form inside him. My Sharingan had activated.

He didn't answer, but instead lifted his foot and knelt down over me, straddling my sides. He took my wrists and held them to the ground.

His face was incredibly calm for such a situation. "I told you," he whispered, looking down my body as he spoke, "You're mine from now on. That man will never have you again. And even if he tries, I'll kill him."

My eyes teared up as I fought for something to say, but I was speechless. My arms and torso were immobile, we were alone in a forest who knew how large, and Sasuke had the power and motivation to do what he wanted here. His Sharingan, so like my own, enabled him to see any move I planned. How could I stop him?

"Don't do this," I cried out, closing my eyes as to not look into the evil red reflection of my own. His hands pulled my wrists together over my head and a rope was tied around them.

I couldn't even kick him from this angle, yet I found the right moment to spit in his face.

"You bastard," I shouted, struggling against the bonds above my head, which he held in place with one hand.

"I'm not the bastard here, you are." He replied.

"Stop messing around!" I yelled back furiously. "What do you think you'll do, hide me from Gaara until he forgets about me? Maybe convince the him and the Hokage that a dead clan still has rights? You can't pull this off, you're crazy!"

Smack. My cheek burned as I looked up at him in shock, his hand already raised again.

"Listen, girl," he hissed, "My clan is not dead and you are my last hope of producing a pure Uchiha bloodline. That letter in your hands was my reassurance that your father was Uchiha, so you belong to my clan, and to me."

Before I could answer, I heard a rusting sound from far off in the woods. I recognized the scent on the faint breeze. It was him!

My attentions were brought back to Sasuke as he leant forward to kiss my neck, ignoring how I arched away from him. He played with the hem on my shirt. He took his time, he thought he had won.

I thought I'd try one more time to talk sense into this crazy man. "Sasuke," I spoke away from him to keep my face out of reach from his kisses, "When Gaara finds out what you're trying to do, he'll kill you."

Sasuke scoffed at my words and began pulling up my shirt. "He won't find out. We have hours before he even starts looking for you."

I would have been afraid if not for the increasing sounds and smell. He was making a beeline for this exact spot. He would take maybe five minutes to get here. I couldn't risk telling Sasuke he was coming; he might try to escape with me. Could I stall him long enough?

"Wait, what do you plan to do when they figure out I'm missing?"

"Doesn't matter."

"The Hokage won't stand for this! She'll make you give me back!"

He let out a sigh and stopped to reach into a packet at his side. Was he going to let me go? But he pulled out a piece of gray cloth and roughly slung it over my head, tying it over my mouth as a makeshift gag.

I squirmed and tried to shout, to tell him at least that he was going to get killed, but I could only produce muffled cries. With his hand on my bound arms and his legs on my own, I quickly tired and lay panting, my eyes still streaming tears. Hurry, Gaara, I prayed, before it's too late!

Sasuke thankfully moved slowly, thinking he had all the time in the world. His hands moved to my chest and under my bra, massaging my breasts as I turned my head in disgust. I tried to think of Gaara, tried to ignore the pervert whose hands were on me now.

His attention moved to my pants at the same moment I was finally able to push the gag away with my tongue.

"Gaara!" I shouted at the top of my voice, "Gaara, hurry!"

I saw the movement but couldn't stop him as Sasuke's fist raised and he punched me in the head. My head went dizzy from pain, yet I saw his blurry figure straighten to look around, maybe searching for the sand-nin or any other intruders.

I closed my eyes to ease the raw pain from his fist. The loose gag was ripped away from my face. "Is he coming?" he roared, his voice betraying his fear.

I ignored him. Another slap across the face, and his hands grabbed my shirt to pull me up to him.

"Is he coming? Tell me or I'll mess you up so bad he won't want you!"

I shuddered at the threat, yet didn't answer. Whatever happened, I couldn't let Sasuke win.

In attempt to escape the pain that was throbbing from my cheek where he hit me, I looked up blankly at the bright afternoon sky, partially hidden from the treetops.

"No," he murmured, "I won't let him have you." Sasuke quickly stood up and looked down at me, blocking my view from anything but himself. His crazed red eyes were wide with panic. And I saw another kunai gripped tightly in his hand.

"Sasuke – please wait – ahh!" My vision swam as the blade slashed my cheek and ran across my face, just missing my eye. Again he struck, this time hitting my shoulder and slicing a line across my chest. His foot went down sharply on my elbow to keep my hands above my head as I struggled, my own screams deafening me.

"He won't want you when you're scarred and broken!" he shouted, and I opened my eyes again to see him raise the weapon over my bare stomach.

His body suddenly arched comically to the side and he flew off of me, landing with a thud at the base of a tree. He moaned and looked painfully at the large sandy dagger sticking out of his side.

The ground below me shook and swam around me, encircling me in a cradle of sand, carrying me out of the clearing and away from Sasuke. I almost cried again in happiness. He was finally here.

Sasuke stood up and clenched the dagger at his side. He gripped it where the hilt would be and pulled it out with a shout of pain. Blood began spewing out of the wound, yet he placed a hand over it and turned towards the invisible attacker.

He leapt down from the trees, a blur of red and brown. I could not see his face, but his sand gourd was rippling in excitement and the ground around his feet seemed to circle him. His chakra was a brilliant swirling light that extended to the particles of sand around him.

"Gaara," I moaned, feeling the hot pain of my ripped cheek as I spoke. He turned his head to me and with a shock I saw that his eyes were no longer that beautiful blue, but golden and black. They met my stare with no emotion other than anger. He glanced at something behind me and turned back to the wounded man before him.

Was he mad at me? Why? I barely noticed my hands were unbound until Toboe snuck under my elbow to gently lie on top of me. I glanced at his bandaged leg before looking back to the fight with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Sasuke was in a fighting stance; apparently his wound had stopped bleeding. He pulled several shuriken out of his pack and jumped up into the treetops. Gaara looked up silently as the weapons were thrown directly at him. His sand met them midair and the shuriken fell to the ground, yet the sand rose to the sky, precariously swirling like a dark cloud.

"Sand Drizzle," Gaara said, raising his hand and dropping it swiftly. The cloud of sand formed a thousand brown needles that hurdled down towards Sasuke. He leapt from tree to tree, evading all but a few which stuck to his shoulders and leg.

"Fire Release!" Sasuke shouted as he formed hand signals. A huge burst of flame came toward us, burning up trees in its path. I saw only Gaara's silhouette standing before the flames as a shield of sand covered me entirely in darkness, along with Toboe. I gripped him in fear as the roar of the flames washed over us and passed.

"Gaara!" I shouted. The sand remained over us, protecting us from the fight. I heard muffled shouts and roars of flame and sand and I didn't know what else. I pushed against the barrier futilely, hoping to help or at least watch Gaara fight. But Toboe nudged me as if telling me to stop, I was already weak.

"Sand Shuriken," and a shout of pain. Moments later, "Chidori!" and a strange, loud chirping noise filled the air. What the hell was that?

There was a blast and another shout and I was now panicking to see who was getting hurt.

"Sand Coffin!" Gaara's voice was weary, which only worsened my anxiety. I heard his sand moving, and muffled shouts from Sasuke, then silence. I held my breath, waiting.

Something was cracking, splitting, and then breaking apart. Something smashed into the shield and landed on Toboe and me. The sunlight stunned my vision for a second before the figure pushed itself off of us. It was Gaara.

He stepped slowly towards – that wasn't Sasuke, was it? There was a winged gray beast, disfigured with one wing like a bat and one a mass of snakes. A large black cross marked its face under a mess of purple hair. It bared its fangs and flapped itself into the air.

Gaara's breathing was labored, but I could see no blood. Was he hurt internally?

Toboe suddenly stood up and bared his own teeth at the scene. He turned to me, wanting to get me away from this spot.

"No, I'm not leaving Gaara," I whispered, knowing full well I couldn't do much in this state.

Gaara fell to his knees and roared into the sky. I watched in horror as his skin turned yellow, and his veins rose and pulsed bright blue. His ears formed like cat ears and traveled to the top of his head. He shuddered as a large tail grew behind him, yellow and blue.

"Gaara! What's happening?" I shouted in panic. He turned to me with an evil, toothy scowl. This wasn't my husband anymore. His face had grown a muzzle and his eyes shone with bloodthirsty passion. Toboe stood before me and growled a warning. Gaara watched us even as his limbs thickened and he grew twice his size. He seemed to find us unworthy for a fight and turned back to the blue beast before him.

Toboe looked back at me, insisting that we leave immediately. It wasn't worth risking my life to watch the fight.

"But Gaara . . . he's Shukaku now, isn't he?" I asked myself. The demon that had haunted Gaara all his life was this ugly yellow beast.