A Mother's Instinct

by Lady Detia

Chapter One: A Sleepless Night

There's something about a baby that causes a strong emotional reaction from adults, whether positive or negative. Perhaps it's their helplessness, frailness, neediness, or all of the above; but a baby can change not only the whole mood in a room full of adults, but they can also change their very lives. This fact is no different in the Hidden Leaf Village. The ones who were only babies when the Kyuubi attacked were now all grown with their own little ones. Each child was providing them with plenty of laughter, joy, and even sleepless nights. This particular night was one of the sleepless ones, at least in the Uzumaki household. Hideki-chan and Hinode-chan, who were both now three, were suffering from colds. Fortunately for both of them their mothers were skilled in medical ninjutsu and did all that they could to ease their symptoms. Both Hinata and Sakura sat on the couch with each boy on their lap wrapped in a blanket. They both had finally fallen asleep and Hideki's fever had broken at last. Both mothers looked at each other to give the silent signal to place the two ill children to bed. After placing each of them on their futons and giving them a good night kiss on the temple, the Uzumaki's two wives silently retired to their room. They both glared down at the boys' father, who was laid out on their bed snoring like a drunken monkey. Hinata shook her head and Sakura bumped the palm of her hand against her forehead as they both wondered how the man was able to sleep through the boys' crying.

Not too far from the Hokage's tower another father was lying awake next to his little daughter. For some reason Kakashi always seemed to find himself watching little Ayame sleep. It amazed him how such an energetic child could be so still and peaceful when she slept. Although all those close to him swore up and down she was her daddy from head to toe, he could see her mother in her too. Her mouth and button nose were all Megumi-chan. And although her hair was the color of her maternal grandmother's, it had grown straight and silky like his beautiful wife's tresses. Watching her sleep caused him to miss his precious spouse even more. He couldn't put into words how grateful he was that she gave him something he'd thought he'd probably never have; a beautiful daughter who needed his love and protection. Kakashi brushed a finger through Ayame's lavender locks then kissed the two-year-old's cheek before going to sleep himself.

Meanwhile, miles away in Sunagakure, the Copy Ninja's wife lay awake in the embrace of a sleeping Kazekage. During her visits was the only time he actually got a decent night's sleep. Something about Megumi's presence seemed to soothe his troubled soul long enough for him to rest peacefully at least for a few hours. Megumi suspected it was their lovemaking that did it. Although Shukaku had been removed from him years before he still had to deal with his own personal demons that still plagued him. That stoic expression that he bore in front of everyone else came off like a mask when they were alone together allowing him to show his rarely seen passionate side. Their sessions together had started out raw and exciting and the physical attraction between them was always strong, but Megumi noticed that after he found out that she was carrying his child she saw a new found tenderness towards her. Of course those gestures were shown in secret, especially in his own village. The only other people to get a peek at him expressing his true feelings for her were his close friend, the Hokage, her husband, and her youjinbou, who all knew how to keep their mouths shut. Gaara couldn't even trust his own siblings to keep quiet about him showing the slightest bit of tenderness towards anyone.

Megumi's eyes were getting heavy with sleep but she couldn't take her eyes off the result of the passion between her and her lover. Little Shoji slept mere inches away on a smaller futon curled up and sucking his thumb. It was no surprise that he was a quiet and serious looking child because of who his parents were. He had inherited his father strikingly bright red hair and his mother's cat-like eyes. The mother of two smiled when she thought about how her daughter, Ayame, adored her tiny baby brother. She was glad they managed to develop a bond between them in spite of the distance. She tried to let them spend as much time together as possible when she would visit Konoha. She wanted their bond to become strong because she knew they would need each other's support. It was becoming more difficult for her to spend time with her precious ones since the Otogakure was growing by leaps and bounds. She always felt the pangs of guilt for having her children grow up so far away from her, but at the same time she felt it was very important that they each bonded with their fathers. She figured that she had made it perfectly clear that she loved both her children by the way they would greet her with such joy when she would come see them. They were both growing up so fast and because she was usually away from them for months at a time she had missed certain milestones like Ayame's first real sentence and Shoji's first steps. Hearing details from each of their fathers was nowhere near the same as witnessing it herself. She had voiced her concerns to both her husband and her lover, yet both reassured her that she was far from being a rotten mother. Kakashi told her that he was concerned about her wearing herself too thin and suggested handing over most of her duties to her uncle Jin until the children were old enough to start their ninja training. That way she could spend more time with them and watch them grow up into fine shinobi. Gaara suggested both children stay with her in Otogakure so they could truly grow up together as siblings, but the Otokage didn't think the Hidden Sound Village was stable enough to be secure enough for her to raise them there yet. Her youjinbou, Do, Re, Mi and Fa, were too busy keeping the borders secure to protect her little ones, so she entrusted their safety to their respective fathers. Even so, Megumi-san was determined to figure out a way for her family to truly become one. With that thought she reached over to her baby boy's tiny open palm to slip her pinky into it. She smiled warmly when he gripped her finger tightly.

Just as she fell into a deep slumber Gaara woke up. He had slept six hours straight this time without a single nightmare. That was a record for him, even though the nightmares didn't occur as often as before and weren't as intense. He actually felt refreshed for a change, although he couldn't explain how the presence of this woman sated the emotional turmoil inside of him, even if only for a few short hours. He leaned over to his lover and bit her shoulder, causing her to moan in her sleep. Once he sat up he saw his son's little hand gripping his mother's pinky. He merely blinked at the sight and with a 'hmph' then got up to roam the dark halls of the Kazekage's mansion until he was able to sleep again, which probably wouldn't be until late the next night. When Gaara went to check on his two daughters he realized he wasn't the only one awake. About five feet away from their beds he saw their mother folding laundry. The main reason for their divorce was sleeping next to her on her futon. Gaara held nothing against the three year old little boy, but he had plenty against his ex-wife. If there was one thing Gaara hated it was liars, and he had discovered she was a liar of the worst kind. That little boy was physical evidence of that. Although he wouldn't say that their marriage could have been described as blissful, it wasn't horrible either. He didn't consider her much of a head turner, but she was attractive. The sex wasn't bad either, although she couldn't handle his more exotic tastes because of her low threshold for pain. He found a release for those desires with other women in the village who were willing or perhaps too scared to tell the Kazegage no, which Koui knew about and seemed perfectly fine with. The problem started when Gaara realized that he couldn't trust the mother of his children. Gaara wasn't the jealous type, but he just couldn't tolerate laying in the same bed with someone whom he couldn't trust. He was equally unhappy with his brother who had the audacity to impregnate his wife. To Gaara what he did was unforgivable and Kankuro had enough sense to keep his distance from his younger brother.

Koui looked up from the children's laundry to meet Gaara's cold gaze. Even though a few years had passed since the divorce and tempers had cooled, she could still see a spark of anger in his glassy eyes when he looked at her. She could feel a pain stabbing her heart when she caught his eye. Although she eventually took responsibility for the consequence of her one night stand with Kankuro, she was still holding on to hope for complete forgiveness from her former husband. She was very grateful that he had spared her life. That alone spoke volumes to her about how he felt about her, which made her feel a heavy sort of guilt for screwing up like she did. At least he allowed her to see their daughters and tolerated Oashisu's presence while she was there. Koui never said so, but she felt she knew what was holding her ex-husband back from forgiving her. It was more a whom than a what. She didn't particularly care for that creepy woman he had grown quite attached to. Koui felt that she was the main reason Gaara had started paying less and less attention to her. She hated that woman and how Gaara's attitude would change when she was around and how his temper would flare up if anyone said anything negative about her. She even seemed to have gained the affection of her daughters, who would constantly ask when Megumi-san would be coming back. She really wished she would take that baby of hers and never come back. She didn't see Shoji as just a baby, but as the physical sign of the lack of hope of ever regaining her dear Gaara's affections. She found herself constantly scheming to break them up somehow. That damned woman was nothing but an obstacle to the restoration of her happiness in Koui's mind. She knew from experience how to plant the seeds of dissention. Somehow she had to break that trust between them.

A/N: Dear readers, now's your opportunity to influence the direction of this story. What do you think Koui should do to try to break up Gaara and Megumi without them realizing she's the source of the problem. E-mail me your ideas.