Of course Treebeard would be tempted by the ring and after a while become enslaved to it. Why shouldnt that be the case? He is a living being with wishes and desires: he longs for the time of the first age, he misses the forests and wants to protect fangorn, he misses the Entwives and fears for the survival of his race. The ring would be able to exploit these fears and desires. Remember the delusions of grandeur Sam experienced when he whore the ring: he would turn Mordor into a garden, etc. Treebeard would probably experience something similar and i dont think that he would be able to resist. Maybe he would have the wisdom of Gandalf and reject the ring or remove its presence before it can corrupt him, but Treebeard doesnt seem to know all that much about Ring-Lore and the Politics of Middle-Earth so it could be that he wouldnt recognize the danger. Treebeard is not all knowing and has a rather limited perspective regarding Middle-Earth.
Regarding the Balrog: in my opinion he is not subservient to Sauron and probably does not accept his "Authority" in any way, shape or form. Why would he? From the Balrogs perspective Sauron is probably a Traitor and Usurper. That doesnt mean that the Balrog wouldnt be tempted by the one ring if he found it, but i dont think its likely that he would return it to Sauron.
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