Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

Special Thanks: goes out to Guest, rao hyuga 18, and greetingsfrommaars for your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who continues to add this story (and me!) to their favorites and follows lists.

Author's Note: Not much to say about this chapter, other than it was great fun to write (all the adorable little kids!). A reviewer also asked what Itachi's answer to Gaara about the Akatsuki undercover mission: I do believe it was mentioned a few chapters back as an intention, but just to clarify, he was planning to say no already, but the situation with the baby made it a definite no. I thought I'd put that in an author's note just in case others were wondering. I hope you enjoy this chapter - thanks for reading!

*~Chapter XXXVI~*

~Falter~

In early August, Temari suffered a scare in which she feared Granny Chiyo's contraceptives had not worked, and she was pregnant again. Fear kept her silent, even with her husband, until she could be entirely certain.

A week later, her womanly time visited her, late but present nonetheless. She cried then, locked away in the toilet room in the middle of the night, desperate to keep her sobs from reaching Itachi's ears on the other side of the door. She found release in the venting of her emotions, the tears a mingling of relief and grief. She wanted a child so badly she ached, but she knew she should be glad this had proved a false alarm.

It made her hate the Council all the more.

Only a few days later, a report came from Konoha in which Lady Tsunade gave a warning that Sasuke had had covert contact with Orochimaru, the infamous rogue nin from Konoha who had murdered the Sabaku siblings' father. Gaara called both Itachi and Temari into his office to share the news, his features grim and tense.

"She has Sasuke under twenty-four hour watch, just in case he decides to leave the village." Gaara looked at them soberly over his steepled hands. "The members of the younger Uchiha's team, as well, are keeping a close eye on him, promising to report any strange behavior immediately to their superiors."

"The little idiot," Temari muttered. "I'd like to give him a piece of my mind. Either that, or smack some sense into his silly head."

Her younger brother frowned at her. Beside her Itachi brushed her hand with his and said, "It's good of Lady Tsunade to take the time to let us know of her concerns. Thank you for keeping us informed, Lord Gaara."

After that, Temari noticed a marked increase in the intensity with which Itachi faced his training, both with her in the gym and on the racetrack with Mayonaka. She knew he worried about his little brother, and wished she could say or do something to alleviate his concerns. But as long as Sasuke operated under the misapprehension of his older brother's participation in the Uchiha clan massacre, she only expected the situation to get worse.

And then came the one week which came around every three years, the one she dreaded more than any other: her stint as an instructor in Suna's ninja training academy.

Oh. Joy.

When Gaara took over as leader of Suna, he instituted a new tradition for his family. He, Kankuro, and Temari would take turns for one week every year talking to the fourth-year ninja-in-training at the Academy, sharing a few (non-confidential) experiences and helping each discover the weapon which worked best for them.

Temari had only worked at the Academy once before, and it was an experience she dreaded repeating. She considered begging Gaara to let her off the hook this year, but in the end, she decided to face it head-on. Perhaps spending time with a group of Suna's next generation ninja would further help heal her still-aching heart.

The first day, she wound up dismissing class ten minutes early. As soon as the room cleared, she leaned against the desk at the head of the room, gasping in shallow breaths as she shut her eyes against the tears gathering in her eyes. The trusting, awed gazes of fourteen nine-year-olds locked on her shook her far more than she'd expected. If she let down her guard for even a moment, a head of blonde hair or a pair of dark eyes sent her spiraling back down toward the pit of despair she still fought every single day.

Despite her emotional exhaustion, the moment she got home Temari tracked down Itachi and half-dragged him to the gym. Only after an hour-long sparring session did she feel her tension start to melt away. By the evening meal, she felt stable enough to attend dinner with her husband and brothers and give Gaara a (mostly) positive report on her day at the Academy.

That night as she went through her nightly routine, she made a mental note to visit Lady Chiyo before heading to the Acadamy to get some more contraceptives, then collapsed into bed. She was asleep before Itachi joined her just a few minutes later.

She felt like she couldn't have been asleep more than an hour when a gentle hand brushed her cheek and a familiar voice spoke softly in her ear, "'Mari. 'Mari-hime, you have to be at the Academy in forty minutes. Wake up."

At first her sleep-fogged mind refused to comprehend Itachi's words. When they did register, she sat up so fast only Itachi's ninja reflexes kept him from getting smacked in the head. "Why did you let me sleep so late?" Throwing back the blankets, she scrambled out from beneath them and headed for the toilet room, running her hand through her loose, tangled blonde hair. She came back out only a minute later and rushed toward the washroom, mind spinning with all the things she had to do before she could call the class into session.

Itachi followed her, thoughtfully catching his shirt, which Temari sent sailing back out through the door behind her. "You were exhausted yesterday. I wanted to let you sleep as long as you could. And besides, I knew you already had your lesson plans laid out for today. You needed the sleep."

Wearing two ponytails and working on a third, her half-buttoned top tumbling off one shoulder to reveal the mesh beneath, Temari opened the door to say, "I'm going to eat breakfast on the way. Send down to the kitchen to get something ready, would you please?"

He dropped a light kiss on the tip of her nose. "All right." He left on his errand, and she finally let herself release a long breath. Ignoring the last of her loose hair, she braced her trembling hands against the edge of the counter and stared at her pale, tight-eyed reflection in the mirror. Already a tension headache throbbed across her forehead and pulled at her scalp muscles on the top of her head. "You can do this," she told herself firmly, trying very hard to believe it. She would make it through the entire class today. She would keep her guard up the entire time, stick to business, and make it through the time without danger of emotional meltdown.

This was just as much training as sparring, every bit a mission as sneaking a classified scroll out of a fortress. Temari had been a ninja for the majority of her life - she prided herself on being professional, businesslike, and surely perfectly capable of dealing with a roomful of nine-year-olds every day for five days.

A half-hour later, as fourteen pairs of eyes focused on her, Temari clung to her practiced calm with both hands as she forced a smile and greeted her class. "Before we start today's lesson, does anyone have any questions about what we covered yesterday?" she asked. She hadn't assigned any homework, since she'd been in such a hurry to get the day over and done, but she hoped at least some of the class remembered what she'd said the day before.

A few titters fluttered through the room, and then one cautious hand went up. Temari smiled at the brown-haired boy who kind of reminded her of Kankuro at that age. She nodded at him. "Yes, Hideo?"

Standing, he bowed to her and said, "Yesterday, you talked to us about the necessity of teamwork, Temari-sensei." He bowed again, then resumed his seat.

Thankfully, Hideo's resemblence to Kankuro only went as far as his looks. "Yes, Hideo. Good job." Temari crossed her arms over her abdomen, but quickly dropped them again, hating herself for her slip. Mentally shaking away her memories, she allowed her gaze to skim over the faces of her other students as she presented another question. "Does anyone else wish to add to Hideo's answer?"

A red-haired girl at the back of the room raised her hand. When Temari acknowledged her, she popped to her feet, bowed, then offered a grin as she answered. "Being able to work with other people as a team means no one person is completely responsible for the mission. With two to four people on the mission, the ob- ob-" Her eyebrows crinkled, and she stared at Temari with uncertain eyes.

"Objectives," the blonde gently prompted.

The girl - Rena? - smiled in relief. "Thank you, Temari-sensei. The objectives of the mission have a better chance of being completed by a team, especially if all the members work well together."

"Thank you, Rena. Good job." As the girl took her seat again, Temari tapped the tips of her fingers on the edge of the desk, then began to pace. "Today, we're going to build on what we talked about yesterday. I know you're all familiar with the concept of teamwork, since your sensei have talked to you about it through your years here. But teamwork is more than just two, or three, or four people working together." Stopping at the other end of the desk, she propped her hip on the edge and raised one eyebrow. "Anyone want to take a guess why that is?"

Three hands shot up, and Temari nodded to the blonde girl on the front row. She stood and bowed, then clasped her hands in front of her. "I heard your partner is your husband. Is that true, Temari-sensei?"

"That is true, Chiharu. Itachi and I were assigned to each other when he first came to Suna, and we've been partners ever since. Over the course of our time working together, we fell in love, and..." She trailed off and shook her head. "That's off-topic, though."

"But so romantic," Chiharu said with a smile. Several other girls in the class giggled, and most of the boys groaned.

Hideo raised his hand, and when Temari acknowledged him, he asked, "Is he going to come teach us, too?"

"There's not a plan for it at the moment, but he's coming by to pick me up after class. Any of you who want to meet him can stay and talk to him for a few minutes." Temari smiled at the visible ripple of excitement which ran through her students. She let it go on for a few seconds before she made a calming motion with her hands. "All right, all right. For now, let's get back to why we're here, shall we?" But she couldn't resist smiling at the kids, getting caught up in their enthusiasm.

Rena raised her hand, and even though it was another delay, Temari allowed the question. "Are you and Itachi-san going to let your children come to the Academy with us?" she asked shyly, her brown eyes wide and curious.

The breath rushed out of Temari as if she'd been punched in the solar plexis. A band of pain tightened around her chest, preventing her from inhaling to replace her lost oxygen. Her hand clenched into a fist around the fabric of her top over her stomach, which began to cramp with ghostly echoes of the horrible pain she'd felt all those months ago. My baby, my baby-!

"Temari-sensei?" The uncertain whisper accompanied the feel of a small hand clenching her sleeve, tugging slightly. Temari blinked, clearing her eyes of the encroaching tears enough to see Rena's soft brown eyes staring up into her own teal ones, their depths filled with fear. "Temari-sensei, are you okay?" Beyond the little girl, she sensed the rest of the class worriedly watching her.

She forced her hand to unclench, the muscles in her fingers protesting even as she moved her hand to caress the top of Rena's red head. "Yes," she said, although her voice trembled slightly. But with the release of the word, said merely to reassure the children, the band around her chest eased a little, allowing her to breathe again. "Yes, I'm all right. Thank you, Rena. You may return to your seat now." She shifted her hand to the girl's shoulders, giving her a slight nudge to propel her back to her desk.

Congratulations, Temari. Your second day on the job and you manage to freak out your entire class. Drawing in another breath - not as deep as she would have liked, but at least she could complete the motion again - she cast her eyes over the anxious faces still staring at her. Forcing a smile to her lips, she shook her head and let out a shaky laugh. "Sorry about that. Just some bad memories. Now, where were we-? Oh, yes. Rena just asked a question." Taking a moment to make sure she was completely in control of herself again, Temari looked to the girl and managed to keep her voice steady as she answered. "If Itachi and I are blessed with children in the future, then yes, Rena, we will let them come to this Academy. Who knows? Maybe in a few years they'll be sitting right where some of you are now."

That seemed to cheer the children, and the rest of the class proceeded smoothly. By the time the lesson ended, she felt reasonably sure the children had forgotten her semi-meltdown, even if she hadn't.

Out of the fourteen children, eight stayed to meet Itachi. When he appeared in the doorway of the classroom, a warm smile on his face just for her, he was immediately mobbed by her students - most of them, she noted with amusement, girls. At least she didn't have to worry about these females stealing away her (very, very) handsome husband.

Itachi's initial look of confusion gave way to a conspiratorial grin when he caught her wink over the kids' heads. Looking down at his admirers, he patiently answered all their questions and paid them all equal attention. By the time the last one wandered away, over twenty minutes had passed, and Temari was beginning to feel antsy. She wanted some attention from Itachi, too.

When she got it, her ruffled feathers smoothed immediately. Still floating over the kiss he bestowed upon her, Temari gathered up her things and tucked her notes into the simple shoulder bag she'd brought with her. "How has your morning been?" she asked.

"Your brother talked to me about a mission for us - just a simple one - which we can consider taking after your week here is up," he said. Grasping her hand in his, he smoothed his thumb over its back as they made their way through the halls to the exit. "It'll be easy - just two or three days away. Escort mission." He looked at her askance. "You think you're up for it?"

Temari firmly shoved away the nagging memory of her emotional bobble in class. "Sure. Anyone we know?"

He shook his head. "Not unless you're intimately acquainted with the Land of Wind's feudal lord and his family."

"Not particularly. We're to escort him, then?" Temari turned her head in the opposite direction of the brisk, hot wind which blasted across her face as soon as she and Itachi exited the Academy. It heralded a sandstorm forming, she felt sure, but she held no great hopes of it not blowing itself out by sunrise the following day - no delays for her teaching.

Yay.

In perfect sync with each other, they picked up their pace. "His eldest daughter," Itachi continued their conversation. "She and the eldest son of the Land of Fire have been courting. They're taking turns visiting each other. It's her turn to go, but the feudal lord decided he'd rather have ninja guarding Lady Asami rather than members of his own guard." Itachi adjusted the scarf over the lower portion of his face, eyes narrow as the wind began to blow around a fine, irritating dust. "It's an honor for us, really."

Or, so he'd like them to think. "Hn." Temari tugged the hood of her cloak over her face a bit more, starting to feel the sand biting and scratching at her skin through her layers. "That storm's blowing in fast - come on, let's run."

As they broke into a sprint, the first reverberations of the warning gong sounded, chasing them through the rapidly empyting streets all the way home.

Temari woke slowly the day after her last session at the Academy, languidly lingering in the remnants of the wonderful dream she'd been having. She felt warm and content and lazy, her favorite way to wake up in the morning. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, she squirmed her arms out from beneath the blankets and stretched, interlacing her fingers and enjoying the sensation in her awakening muscles. Hazy, yet at the same time vivid, memories of the dream she'd had filled her mind: Memories of deep, passionate kisses; of the sensation of heated caresses across her skin; of Itachi's body covering her own-

Her husband's arms came around her from behind, drawing her back against him. She snuggled deliciously into his embrace, relishing the warmth of his flesh touching hers along the full length of her body. Desire rippled through her, bringing her further awake-

Reality suddenly crashed its way into her consciousness, shocking her fully awake. Panic wrung a gasp out of her throat as she shot up in bed and looked down at herself. Twisting around, she whipped the sheets away from a startled-awake Itachi; and moaned.

"Itachi!" Temari clamped shaking fingers around his arm. "Look at us - look at us! Oh my gods and ancestors, it wasn't a dream! We really did - and without protection-" Her terrified gaze shifted to the empty container sitting on the bureau. The container which she'd been meaning to have filled during the last week, but had been too tired, or emotionally exhausted, or busy to remember until too late.

And now too late held an entirely different meaning.

Itachi sat up next to her, looking as white as she felt. "Oh my gods and ancestors," he breathed in echo of her, a hitch in his voice, "it wasn't a dream." Putting his arms around her again, he cradled her to his chest. "'Mari, it might still be okay. Where are you in your cycle?"

Temari closed her eyes, her mind feverishly ticking over the days; once, twice, then yet another time as the heavy, shivery feeling in her gut grew. "I'm just on the far edge of my fertile period," she said in a thin tone. She clenched her trembling hands into fists against his flanks. "I kept meaning to go back to Granny Chiyo and get more, but I've either been so busy or so tired, I kept forgetting." Even though she now realized contraceptives wouldn't have helped in this situation. Neither she nor Itachi had been entirely awake or aware of what they'd been doing even as they did it. For any other couple, it was natural, expected even. But not for them. And that didn't reverse the damage which quite possibly might have just been done.

"So it's possible-" Itachi's voice broke before he finished his sentence.

"It's possible I may have conceived." She said it flatly, hovering somewhere between numbness and hysteria. "And if I have- We won't be able to stay in Suna. We'll have to leave. Gaara will send us out, as though on a mission, and we simply won't come back."

"And go where?" She heard how he fought to control the bitterness trying to seep into his tone. "Though you could perhaps find asylum in Konoha..."

"We'll go to the Land of Birds." In some distant corner of her mind, Temari wondered at how she could be functioning so calmly, let alone at all. "Lady Toki will welcome us."

Itachi's hand brushed at the hair falling across her cheek. Though she knew he meant the motion to be soothing, she could feel the tremors in his fingers, see the fear in his eyes he was so desperately trying to hide. "The Elders won't let it - let us - go. We can't bring that kind of trouble down on Lady Toki and her people. It's possible nothing will come of it," he said. He sounded steadier, if not really hopeful. "Look how many times we've done this before, with no regard to whether you were fertile or not, and nothing happened..."

Temari wrapped her arms tightly around her husband and tried to force down the panic still trying to claw its way into her throat. Her empty stomach gurgled uncomfortably. Although she knew it was impossible, she half-imagined it was morning sickness already at work on her.

"You're right." She forced the words past the acidic lump still stuck in her throat, threatening to choke the life and hope out of her. "It's likely nothing will come of this." She swallowed, but the lump stayed right where it was. Temari had a feeling it wouldn't budge until she knew for sure, one way or another, how this would turn out. "I'll just keep an eye on things for the next couple of months, and definitely go get some more contraceptives from Granny Chiyo today." Even if she was dead on her feet, she would do it this time. No more putting off the trip.

"Will you tell her about what just happened?" Itachi sounded uncertain, anxious.

"No. Not yet. There's no use churning things up, especially if nothing happens." And though she trusted Granny Chiyo with her life, she knew word had ways of getting out. In Suna, the walls had ears. If even so much as a hint of this got to the ears of the Council of Elders...

...She didn't want to think about what might happen.

In the end, both Temari and Itachi forced themselves to go about their daily routine as if nothing were wrong. They talked and smiled and completed their duties as usual, but their situation was never far from either of their minds.

But all they could do was wait.

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: Part of me just wants to pick up all those kids and bring them home. They were so cute, and so fun to write! And I don't know why, but the picture of a bunch of mini-fangirls mobbing poor Itachi just makes me laugh. And in this chapter we see a huge tie-in to Shadows, most particularly something which comes up toward the latter half of the story. Only three chapters of Light and Dark are left now, including the epilogue and bonus chapter... I'm not ready to let this story go yet, so thank goodness! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading, and I hope to see you all again for the next update!