Now I bring you the final chapter to this epic, supernatural romance. Hope you all enjoyed it, and please leave the upmost loving feedback you can. :3

Composition by Brunuhville.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Everlasting Symphony

The Senju Organization had aid across the world to help them come and repair the estate while the town itself would have to make do alone and thus not risk their exposure.

Suna help also came, having lost soldiers in the mass, but they would work to repair Konoha, and it would take a miracle to get additional assistance rom outside, like Kiri despite its bloody past, but its new head in office was going to make amends.

It turned out that there were still civilians who survived the Konoha massacre, but they were few numbers compared to the original. And in the many days that passed, there came the approach from none other than Asuma Sarutobi. Itachi remembered him well but hadn't seen him for years. The son of Hiruzen Sarutobi, he lived quietly in this town with his wife and daughter after the last civil war abroad, but now he was going to relocate here while the town was being reconstructed.

He took his shot after piercing her neck with his fangs, so that he would take her down to their friends and families, but before he fled the dirigible with her in his arms, he took in the two markings left into her fragile skin, the sight of her convulsing under the venomous effects, and it was like seeing himself mirrored all over again. Seeing himself from this perspective. When you come through, someone has to keep you on a leash, help you learn to control your thirst, and allow your body to adjust for some years before you are given the injections.

He knew she was going to be his new mate, but to have it happen as soon as she roused from her rest just like he? Absolutely out of the question. He had been taken advantage of back then, but if she insisted on it whereas he'd had no say, then so be it.

Hanaru was resting in his chambers while the construction of the estate had begun, starting with taking all the corpses away, and then having a massive funeral pyre for the dead, then scattering the ashes as the rites were chanted. Captain Uzuki and her men were given the treatment, and thus came the same epitaph that included something that Sakura bore witness to.

"Here lie the ashes of the ANBU and Senju soldiers who kicked undead ass" - oh, never did I think something so amusing would make its way as a gravestone for heroes. But it's befitting.

The same ceremony applied down in Konoha for the families, elderly and couples in every age who tragically lost their lives; their remaining friends and loved ones were there to bear witness, and there was not one dry eye or a word exchanged besides silence; there be curses to the ones who destroyed their lives and what their ancestors spilled blood, sweat and tears to make for them. Temari, her husband, and Choji were allowed to go down there with Naruto and Gaara to pay tribute to the remnants of not only their beloved art and music studio, but also their apartments each shared, the Akimichi family's bar and grill, Shikamaru and his best friend to say good bye to their families when there was nothing and no one left...all gone from the apocalypse.

The official story was that an unidentified craft had come from somewhere in Iwa that couldn't be traced to a known source in that town, and they all came and butchered the entire town overnight. It was believed that it was out of spite and petty revenge for the past, but no fingers could be pointed lest it started a much larger war and complete destruction of Iwa itself, since Konoha's allies would retaliate back.

Who remained of the old Senju battalions were the three Uchiha vampires, and Sub Commander Yamato and Commander Hatake. There had to be more soldiers to add, but it didn't appear that there would be more vampires and monsters coming any time soon since there was hardly anything left.

There was also the matter of his mistress when he would visit her as she slept in her cot under the tent, seeing as she was too worn down to even leave the place. "I'm too old and tired for all of this. I never thought it would even come. I'm not leaving home if that's the last thing I do."

His heart which hadn't had live blood for nearly six centuries cracked in places when he saw how everything wore her down that you could make out the lines in her face. And coupled with what her granddaughter was going through downstairs in his room at the very moment.

It was time to check up on her.

~o~

Death was peaceful and easy, they said, but for the spirits who were kept from a peaceful afterlife - it brought nothing but pain for them as well as the people they took it out on.

When she opened her eyes, it was like coming out of a decent sleep, and the blur was brief before flashing to clear in a heartbeat. Her body felt like it was still in a pleasant dream that she was waking from. And somehow it was, rather than reflecting on the bad. She saw the faces of her loved ones.

It feels sweet rather than painful, including the lost ones. I miss them, yet I feel rejoiced since I'll never forget them and keep them alive.

And just like she'd been told twice before: her throat was parched, as the first sign that the change was complete. When she sat up, there was little pain at all. Then she spotted something that made her smile, knowing she hadn't been violated, and someone dressed her in a somewhat new version of her favorite flowery nightgown she was sure was gone in the old estate. This time, the sleeves touched her wrists. "Hard to find something like that now that things are hard for now," a familiar sweet voice said to her left, and she looked up to see none other than Sakura standing there. Just her, wearing her medic gear, too.

"Oh, good to see you, Sakura," Hanaru said, sounding very normal and took a few breaths, finding that it was perhaps too even, but at least no more suffocation, right? Except no more smelling everything and feeling like I used to...

"You, too. You really look good. Itachi really did good keeping you under until the changes were done. I had time to come in and check on you, because these days everyone is so busy..." The pinkette trailed off, coming closer to her.

So, they were all working to repair this place and the town, which explained why she was down in this room, and it looked like it was underground like Itachi's room, set up with medical equipment - Sakura's workspace. "Guess everyone missed me?" Hanaru asked, baring her teeth in a smile, and that caused the other woman to laugh and throw her head back.

"That's going to take some getting used to!"

Huh? She reached up and put a finger to run along the line of her upper jaw, feeling the double points, and that was all she needed. "Damn it, not only do I feel it, but I'm...thirsty as hell," Hanaru said, agitated.

Sakura cracked a lopsided grin as she knew that was coming, so she turned around and picked something up - a glass of red liquid she knew was that blood wine Itachi liked to have. "This here is actually donor blood that was one of few to ship in. Let's just say until Konoha is refurbished, we have to resort to going out and getting animals after this. That means Itachi, Sasuke and I get to take you out to have fun hunting!" she said cheerfully.

Officially, it was good bye to dango, tea, sumptuous seafood and grilled meats, you name it. Now Hanaru felt like her luck really turned sour, but then the pink-haired doctor seemed to know what she was thinking. "Hanaru, if you're worried, I assure you each blood type differs in taste, if it will make you happier, so that it will seem like you have your favorite kind of food, if not the specific unlimited options you're used to."

Well, if that was the case, then she looked forward to her new life, and she didn't care if she was jinxing that. She couldn't wait to see her brother and friends after she got the hang of things; they must be helping out with the building and supplies or something, but where was the one who was the last face she saw before now...?

"I'll be the one to take it from here. Thank you, Sakura."

Speak of the devil, and he would appear. "Itachi," she breathed, seeing him standing there in the doorway, having never been so handsome. When he saw her, he was so...happy. That was something new and she really liked that. He should have done that more often before, but that was going to be more after today - or tonight.

Hanaru ran to him, threw her arms around him, and he spun her around, the sight making Sakura gush and quietly slip away by turning into the flurry of flower petals.

"We're the same temperature," he noted when the spinning was over, having not left her dizzy. She laughed and buried her face into the space where his neck and shoulder met.

"Really, I just wake up, and that's what you say first?" But he WAS right; they felt the same temperature, and it was so damned warm and relaxing that she wanted more of it. She didn't want it to be over; they had so many years, maybe decades or longer, ahead of them. She wanted it to be like what those passionate novels always said about forever.

He chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm at a loss for words, that's all - except I'm pleased that I haven't lost you forever."

"And you're not going to lose me, not even if you push me away, and not even if someone else comes to do it," Hanaru finalized, raising her face to meet his, noses touching. "I got you for eternity even if you said there was no such thing. I'm going to..." She unleashed all her passion here and now, because it thrummed more powerfully than ever before, fiction and naiveté be damned.

"...make you feel more alive than you have in a hell of a century, Itachi."

He rumbled and held her close to him. "I have no doubt, my love."

He didn't bring up that there was a lot of work to do, but what the hell? They could help the others with that, but right now, she savored the moment with him, and he was there when she finally got to taste the blood that was left by Sakura. Hanaru was pleasantly surprised it was like dango, and she had no idea whose blood this once was!

She had to bring up, in the safety of Itachi's room right after that, the topic of someday finding someone who could solve their problems and fix their appetites so they could eat human food again if not just blood. Even go about in daytime without always needing the genetic injections he and his family were on. Furrowing his brows, Itachi pondered this before pursing his lips.

"That is a damned good list of revolutionary ideas. I wish I would have had time to think of such matters." He smiled then. "When our home is restored to its glory, we'll take this matter to the table."

Later that night, since earlier had been afternoon and she couldn't go outside, the moon was full, and it was freedom for her, her man and his brother as well as his brother's woman. Oh, to run without getting tired! To hear everything and sense life-forms, to SMELL fresh food! The four of them enjoying a hunt in the woods at the bottom of the mountain, where some animals were coming out of hibernation. She would see deer, fox, bears, wild cats - everything. And that wasn't all.

A miracle flared before their eyes on this moonlit night: the cherry blossoms within Konoha had been destroyed, but the ones surrounding the boundaries made it through, so the lush pink painted a scene against the barren, bleak landscape.

In a way, it was a visual symphony in itself. "It's so beautiful, saiai," Hanaru breathed, leaning into him, and his arm came to be around her waist. He concurred, then added that he'd seen more beautiful things - or should he say, someone living and in his arms?

Living without needing to breathe.

~o~

Ten years - a hell of a long time to pass, and times of peace really did a number of things to you.

Each day since then, she would look at herself in the mirror and finally see the lines marring her face. Blood Night - as it was called from then on, though it was Chi no Yoru in their language - had done more than a number on her than it did to the others. Shizune was the one who gave her the word that she really was too stressed lately, but it was no one's fault after the Akatsuki's actions.

Construction never seemed to end, resources coming in thanks to Suna's help - and of course, some of their Senju Organization contacts in Hayashi, the small land of woods, offered the hand, and Kiri for the town of Konoha. Within five years, the hard work was paid off, and everything was as close as possible to its original form.

And there was the old art and music studio once founded by her grandkids and their friends: Higeki-tekina ai was rebuilt, but it was taken over by a young couple who shared a taste for the dark, tragic, mysterious and wonderful - Ino and Sai Yamanaka, the wife having a flower shop that had been in her family being rebuilt as they spoke. Their purpose was also to revitalize what they could in honor of the old Higeki-tekina ai as well as their own flare, and little did they know, the old members approved without saying it to these new faces.

Rebuilding a new Senju army and security force had NOT been easy, though it had been to promote the ones she had already. Shikamaru was placed in the tactical squad, for one, and he and Yamato and Kakashi got on well. His wife, the Prime Minister's daughter, became one of the soldiers in the ranks, and Choji joined her. Thank the gods we have the fortune to enlist the Hyuuga clan with us, since we trust them. Hopefully there will be more in the future, but we can't go around lightly when it comes to these creatures...

Just Itachi, his family as well as what was left of Hiashi's clan had softened her a bit to understand there were more like them out there, but since her time was running short, there was little left for her to deal with this, and she was too tired now. There was one thing left to do.

None other than her family's longest, trusted agent and her and Jiraiya's granddaughter.

And I said that humans make poor vampire hunters, which is true - most of the time. But look at her before now, and she's only improved since then. I'm so proud of her and Naruto. The thought made her shed a tear on either corner of her eyes.

And what fun it had been to see her pit against Sasuke, Sakura and of course Itachi, her own kind...her own kind. This was what Tsunade tried to prevent, but in the end, it was inevitable as ever. But Hanaru seemed happy, though she was still a newborn, and there was still far too much ahead. The other matter was also her friends and her brother; she would end up being centuries old or decades less while they would all be dead by then. That was a bitch about being a vampire. She laughed to herself at the crass term of phrase.

She remembered the first day which was the night after she awoke, then hunted with her new brethren, and showed her face to all of them. She looked like Hanaru, and yet not. There were no words to describe how much paler she was, the features too perfect and pristine to be real, and knowing she had everything the Uchiha and the Hyuuga did.

Her friends didn't know what to make of this new Hanaru, but at least they knew her personality and everything about her from life wasn't going to alter. I would not know her either if she did that.

It was like Naruto to also shout her name and run to hug her, beyond happy to see her, but if Sasuke hadn't been there, his revived sister would have taken a bite out of his neck since it would have been too close to her mouth. Might have passed off as a comedic scene if it wasn't so serious.

As the years went by, that meant Hanaru would join Itachi on many of his missions rather than remain here full-time, but then she would be with Sakura and/or Sasuke. Better a vampire than human alone. After all, it took some years for a newborn to get used to having animal and donor blood rather than feeding off a living being. And Tsunade would have thought this would have been a difficult adjust for her.

Hanaru even mastered her mother's family's gift, which also meant that anyone could occasionally get in touch, for the shortest moment, with their loved ones on the other side, now that she was undead.

What great joy to visit that place and see their faces?

She was speaking of none other than her son, daughter-in-law, Jiraiya and Dan - and her brother, grandfather, and the rest.

Speaking of Jiraiya, that watch he gave Hanaru was repaired after construction was finished, having been in Asuma's possession, and then it was presented back to the young woman; her eyes lit up with bloody tears that fell because she got a part of her grandfather back if she'd lost everything else. "Thank you both," she'd said, then took the poor woman into an embrace that would have crushed her old bones.

Now ten years have gone by. Here she was now, laying in her bed and surrounded by enough people if not everyone - mostly consisting of the ones most precious and available when everyone else wasn't. She murmured their names as she looked at their faces.

"Naruto...Sakura...Shizune...Hanaru...Itachi."

"Day finally coming, Lady Tsunade," her aide and niece of the man she loved sadly lamented, bowing her head.

And here she was, one of the rare few in the family to not die a violent death even though she had one too many close calls. Who would have thought? She was barely at her seventh decade, but when your time came, then it was time. She taught all of them that, and at least she knew she didn't want to end up the way her granddaughter was. Nowadays the nausea, irritability and bowel pains accompanied by other signs of cancer was a blessing she would take. Because she didn't want to spend eternity never being able to reunite with her loved ones.

Naruto was wiping his eyes and blowing his nose. "God, Granny, you have to go, and I'm going to miss you for sure!" he blubbered, making her shake her head, laughing before the pressure caused the tightness in her throat to rise, and she coughed, unable to breathe until Sakura acted and gave her the glass of water next to her bed.

"I know, but...I told you all it would come. But you all know what to do. I have no regrets anymore, and nothing bad to say to any of you," Tsunade said. "Senju should end with me, but that's not going to happen. Though hereditary inheritance doesn't apply to everyone anymore. However, I have decided who my heir will be when I'm gone."

"But you're not...leaving tonight or tomorrow, or any minute, are you, Grandma?" Hanaru whispered, eyes glazing and showing minor signs of blood vessels. If she bled from her eyes on these sheets, she was going to get an earful.

"No, but in a month or two at most. That is why I feel now is as good as anytime. But before I go in time, there are two last requests, which is why I need you, Hanaru, and Itachi...I'm setting you free."

~o~

She really looked like her age now, but as far as he was concerned, Tsunade was still beautiful as her granddaughter was. Those wrinkles on her face, gray hair still in low pigtails, and the sunken amber eyes deterred nothing.

Still the same spirited young woman who held me at gunpoint down in the dungeons sixty years ago.

He was finally going to lose her, and yet despite generations of serving her grandfather and great-grandfather before her, it felt like a part of his being was going to be snatched away once more. She insisted that they shed no tears for her when she was gone - and that meant she would be happy to reunite with her loved ones in a place that truly existed even if he didn't ever see it - but her last requests were not all that he would have expected.

"Itachi...I'm setting you free."

And by setting him free, it was him holding his hands out, and in the palms showed the markings of the Senju seals Butsuma-sama ordered engraved in him when he was first captured.

He had no idea how to think or feel when he felt the burns in his flesh vanish as if they had never been, but his woman insisted he had a right to be happy because that meant he more than earned enough respect and trust for the bindings to be released. Perhaps she was right, and if this was what Tsunade wanted, then so be it.

But he never would have anticipated that she would name HIM as the future Senju Organization leader.

"Lady Tsunade, I must object -!" But her hardened gaze rendered him speechless.

"I have the final say, Itachi, and I thought this through long and hard enough. I have my reasons for choosing you. No hard feelings on my grandchildren, but Naruto, I know that you would love to run things, but you're better off being out there and giving all your energy it has rather than behind the desk most of the time. And Hanaru, imagine that you and Itachi can take everything equally as the greatest power couple the underworld and our allies have seen. I have tremendous faith you will do that."

And if that happened, that meant the revolutionary ideas of Hanaru could be taken into play, even if nothing would happen overnight. That was what the woman meant.

Tsunade had a month or two left to live, according to Sakura, and there was only so much she could do to make sure it was extended, but the Senju head insisted that her word was final.

She wanted the word to be quiet for now, until she was close to dying, because she was firm when she didn't want anyone knowing she chose Itachi Uchiha as her heir instead of one of her grandchildren or one of her best soldiers. Not that no one trusted him, but he was still a vampire and therefore could deprive them of their ambitions if they had any. He had to agree and would have done the same in her place.

There was something else that took place eventually in the middle of the summer, one month before her imminent demise. Something that he never did with both his mates in the past, but he was going to now, and he was going to enjoy it if he had anything to say about it. Just a week after Sasuke's birthday - his human birthday - and when the rain was at its heaviest but enough to help nature flourish even if it was foul at the moment.

He and Hanaru were married today, injected at last together - well, she started last year, and her patience paid off - and she was the most beautiful creature he'd seen. Dress touched the knees so he saw her lovely legs, delicate and lacy with bell sleeves, and her sandals had the toes made of the same material as her dress. Every detail he had imprinted from this to her face: blue dripping in her ears for a regal touch, her beloved necklace from her brother who was there, and an opalescent halo of blue-toned crystals, like summer raindrops. He never considered material things vital, but he could never take his eyes off of her.

Tonight was going to be a long time in the making.

He had always asked himself in all their years since that bloody night and the decade to follow: how did I ever deserve her when I believed I didn't? And how has she not become jaded as I was? She never experienced any trauma other than that one night, losing her parents, and believes that nothing will ever destroy her resolve, her spirit or even her heart...and she's made me open mine all the way again.

The ceremony took place in Tsunade's bedroom of all places, the balcony doors opened to let in the humidity and the fresh aroma of rainfall to the human's noses, but the only thing he could smell and feel was her luscious scent and feel her skin with his. Nothing affected him this way anymore but her. And it sensationalized to higher steps when the rings were exchanged.

"With this ring, I claim you as my mate," he breathed, sliding that masterpiece on her finger which enchanted all who observed: rosy gold crafted into two small birds - crows - who cradled a natural ruby.

"With this ring, I claim you as my mate," she breathed back, giving him a band that signified living life to the fullest, pushing all the boundaries, with the rose-gold inlaid with wood so dark it was almost black, and set with five twinkling diamonds.

Who made them husband and wife and told them to kiss as the final seal for everlasting union? Why, Asuma did that job this time, whereas Commander Kakashi Hatake had been killed in action a year ago. Because this girl who was now frozen in time was still special to him, so it was an honor.

Asuma's wife and daughter were present to witness amid the crowd, and Naruto hooted that Itachi and his sister better make it work, or else, and that unspoken threat was this: I'll come and stake you through myself. But he knew good and well what that would do to Hanaru.

Reception celebrated with blood wine for the vampires - Sakura still crying and wiping her eyes, Sasuke unable to stop smirking, and that was what the elder brother appreciated as he truly wanted his support - Tsunade managing to leave bed but then had to sit down when her body couldn't bear standing too long, Shizune enjoying more drinks than she usually did, Naruto dancing with Hinata Hyuuga - which included her people coming on a day when the sun wasn't bright - Choji enjoyed the food as he helped concoct, and it seemed Nara didn't call anything a "drag" for a change, not since Tsunade-sama threatened to box both his ears if he uttered that word for anything one more time.

Unfortunately, as always, the Prime Minister couldn't attend due to a grave emergency, though he did send his congratulations on the union...and Temari had a grand surprise that involved a song of her own even if the group no longer sold records to the world.

The way it's too long for walk alone

Too many scars in my bones

I still walk toward the dawn

While the sky darkens

While the light my destiny guide

Flowers and stone are endless

Rivers and clouds painting the scene

Desert and trees shaded the loneliness

Now it's time to fly

Now it's time to rise

Now it's time to bright

Now you'll be part of the stars

I never thought we would be dancing again like this for a day that I never thought would come.

It was so much like that fateful New Year's Eve, involving class and dipping, drawing their bodies closer and heating things up, revving the engines...and that meant they would have to leave the party early since the humans would be worn out from everything before the night came. She smelled the heat off of him when their first dance together was over, then leaned up to purr into his ear, making him growl.

"Want to go ahead and get out of here -?"

He finished the sentence for her; he couldn't wait any longer. "Yes, and get into bed. Your wish is my command."

She held onto him as he whisked them back when no one was looking their way, and here they were now in the room they shared since her rebirth, but of course their relationship never went too far. Light, personal touches like flowers occupied the middle table, and a great canvas that took her a year to create because it was between them only. He couldn't be more pleased with the final result which paralleled them and that apocalyptic night.

A half-naked man with his powerful upper body shown, long hair black as the night flowing behind him like a halo. Cradling bridal style his woman he nearly lost - equally naked as he, but her breasts covered strategically by golden hair, pubis by thigh - and the backdrop was a town in flames against a bloody-red dawn.

Hanaru Uchiha, you stirred me on purpose.

Hanaru said no to painting that dream they once shared - the one in which they were bound body, mind and soul, naked but surrounded by gauze - since it was too special to be imprinted on painting, so their memories were more important. He could not agree more.

A sparkle caught his attention when she let him go and stepped back to sit down in one of the chairs in the middle of the underground bedroom. He watched as she slid off one sandal to expose a delicate foot. He recalled when she told him Temari would have let her wear her wedding boots had they'd not been lost in the fire and blood.

That sparkle was the wedding gift that her dying grandmother gave her: a brilliant white diamond shaped like a pear on a yellow-gold band that had been her mother Kushina's, saying she and Minato would have been proud of her, as Jiraiya would have been. The waterworks were in play in form of salty clear and thick red touching the floor in small drops, after Hanaru accepted it for the middle finger of her right hand.

He was slow in undressing himself, revealing every part of his body she would see with both eyes at last, see everything she once put on canvas but would have all for herself as long as they lived. Once all of his clothes were gone, here he was naked and with his long hair flaring behind his broad shoulders, watching as she was slowly enticing him and driving him impatient and throbbing in both his throat and his manhood which jutted against dark curls. Her eyes flashed when she took in every detail of his sculpted, majestic perfection; he had to avert his eyes from hers, choosing to watch her activities. Her jewelry save both rings were removed, pale hair a river of gold over her shoulders...and the dress as well as the slimming, soft slip beneath were gone so that he beheld the body he'd seen and would at long last claim for himself in the bed behind them. From the ripe breasts to the hourglass form and finally the dark triangle that defined her as feminine.

She was in front of him in a flash, making him chuckle. Immediately, they gave into what was tender and loving, hands roaming over certain parts of each other: she ran along first his back and then around again for his abs and up to his pectorals, he her supple breasts and down to her plump rear, pulling her close to him so their genders rubbed together, pleading - and their fangs extended, longing to bite where each other's jugular once vibrated and flowed with life...

...and that was what they did while standing up when they had not yet consummated their eternal marriage.

They both hissed and roared each other's names in unison, the walls shaking slightly but not crumbling, and the audacity of the fire that burned their bodies, bringing them together and into that coffin which closed in on them so they could be lost in their dark passion. Ah, her body was paradise that put tropical islands, serene zen gardens, and all the prized exotic fruits and wines in the world to shame!

In the middle of that table where flowers were - they were courtesy of Sakura and Sasuke, the hopeless romantics if one of them wouldn't admit it. They were velvety red roses with green ivy and lemon leaves.

And here he was now, safely in the darkness, feeling only his beloved as he made her his, let her come over him and remind him that she would always make him more alive as he deserved to be, that he would always be more man than monster, that they would lead Senju together when the time came and always destroy anyone who would threaten their home and their loved ones.

"I have you now, my darling," Hanaru moaned, laying her face into his chest, cheek resting over his undead heart. Sighing, he agreed, wrapping his arms around her, relaxing against midnight silk and shadows.

"Forevermore, my blue rose." My affinity for the darkness, the mysterious...and the heart.

Honestly, I was crying when I finished this and had two glasses of champagne also to celebrate this new year. :') Both in sadness in different forms and happiness in different forms.

Sadness: Tsunade and many others died, and because this story is finally finished, but all good things have to come to an end. At least I had been blessed to complete it after all despite my fears.

Happiness: previously mentioned completion, and grateful to have reviews which are much deserved. :D

Finishing with a mating and a final song from Trobar de Morte ("Destiny" is the song Temari sang for a change), HAPPY NEW YEAR AND KEEP POSTED ON FUTURE STORIES!