Enjoy and review this heartfelt conclusion which moved me to tears. :'D

Chapter Thirteen

The Spell is Broken

Naruto and Hinata were right about everything. His world he created himself, isolating himself after two losses - no, it wasn't too late to prevent the latest - crashed when the prince said his sister NEVER meant he was the arrogant bastard, but Danzo. Why didn't he trust her?! Itachi hated himself more than ever for treating her the way he did, but now that he was here, he was going to show Danzo he hadn't won.

When they told him his former lord's schemes, he wasn't the least bit surprised the "reward" was a lie, nor was the idea to attack the emperor and remove him from his seat. Today was the day, and with a size-shifting dragon he wasn't afraid to use.

Her brother and the dragon were outside, waiting for his signal which would be a whistle. Here he stood before some attendants in simple kimonos, but the one in regal blue and green was Emperor Minato, still young and fresh despite his age; his eyes sparkled when they rested on Itachi Uchiha, but his face was schooled grimly for appearances only.

Danzo loathed the sight of him, one side of his mouth twisting.

But he couldn't take his eyes off the beautiful princess in her white and red kimono, hating how that thing covered her radiant hair. But her eyes showed a variable of emotions from surprise to happiness, and the worst of all which was antagonism, for good reason. He'd been the bigger fool and deserved her wrath, but here he was now and being a real man for the first time in his life. "Your Imperial Majesty," he said to Minato across the room, "forgive me for interrupting this ceremony, but I refuse to let this conniving fink take one more person I love away from me - and from you - before he carries out his grand scheme of all time."

Shocked gasps sounded throughout the room. But no one even had it in themselves to exclaim and demand he leave before he was arrested and executed. "What do you think you are doing?" Hanaru demanded.

"Really, Itachi," Danzo concurred, "it's rude enough being alive when you should have died along with the rest of your clan, but to show up uninvited to a wedding -"

He growled at the pathetic excuse of a man still trying to undermine him. "Be quiet, snake. Hanaru, I really need to talk to you," he insisted, turning his attention to her and starting the way.

"Oh, now you want to talk?" she snapped. "If you haven't noticed, it's a little late for a misunderstanding jāku like yourself. Now if you will just excuse me..." She started to turn halfway back to the priest, except he knew it was all an act, a denial. Itachi snapped and reached for her hand, turning her back to him. Her father could only watch with amusement and curiosity unlike any ruler before him.

"You CAN'T marry him!" Itachi shouted in frustration.

She pulled herself from his hold. "And why not?"

"Because...because he intends to marry you just so he can take your father's seat before his time is up. Then this village will become a tyranny which I refuse to let happen, and I know you agree with me. I don't even have evidence to support this, because I got it from a reliable source who isn't with me at the present."

"...Naruto," he heard the emperor say under his breath.

Itachi went on without running out of breath. "That man destroyed my life, so I don't want to see this happen here. And Hanaru, you know that you deserve someone who loves you, which your father wants deep down as well. Because everyone knows that..." For a second, he halted, because this was a bold move he was making. Few would dare to bring up royalty's personal lives in any way, even so loosely. "...he married your mother despite being from different classes. And didn't you say yourself: once a samurai, always a samurai?"

Her eyes lit up with recognition at the memory, and she nodded with her mouth partially slack. "Only I don't care anymore whether I remain the way I am for the rest of my life," Itachi finished heatedly. "Because, Hanaru, I..."

Her gaze was that of a doe, filled with understanding now.

He was cut off by a cruel snort of laughter from none other than the bandaged walking corpse himself. "Well, isn't this precious: the coward of the Uchiha has fallen in love with the princess, Your Majesty. Such things are preposterous! With your permission, I should have him taken and executed if he still won't do the honorable act to spare himself this disgrace he brings upon himself," Danzo sneered, but a hand held up to silence him.

"No, as long as I am emperor, I say we stay out of this for the while," Minato said coolly, then dropped that hand and let his blue gaze switch back and forth between his daughter and Itachi.

"Your Majesty," the Uchiha said, "it wasn't one of Lord Danzo's samurai who retrieved your daughter along with your son - it was I. But I did not do this for any reward; I have no interest in such things anymore."

He looked back at Hanaru only to see her looking off to the side, out an opened window which showed the sun going down. He almost didn't hear her words: "By day and night you are one thing and another until you find the one who tames the savage...and then assume love's true form." He frowned, starting when he understood the message behind those words, but couldn't believe it when he saw it happen, the princess smiling at him as she reached up to pull the white hat from her head, exposing the planes of gold, held by her mother's comb.

"Itachi, this is what I wanted to show you before."

The golden dust clouds covered her from head to toe, and when they were gone, left behind was the woman he knew, but with new, distinguished features: the red-gold ears and tail of a fox, and the whiskers on her cheeks that her brother had been born with.

Princess Hanaru was a kitsune girl, but apparently when the sun set every night. It made sense to him now, the many times she wanted to stop for camp but hid herself away from him. She was scared he would flinch away when he saw her, wouldn't understand. This is why her father put her away on Dragon Isle. "Princess," he whispered, taking a few steps towards her, disregarding the attendants which had a few fainting into each other's arms, "this...explains everything." When he was in front of her again, he took both her warm, soft hands into his and looked deep into those expressive eyes.

She bit her bottom lip as she told him her story: "I was a child of eight when it began. I never saw it happen, but we were visited by a goddess with a wrath, cursed to lose my humanity every night and destroy anything in my way like a wild animal - but only if I was provoked - until the day I would be rescued by someone who could soothe me and break the spell." Her irises lowered. "It was worse in the beginning, but since my father sent me away for my protection, my anger issues have lessened over time, and look at me..."

Minato spoke up. "I didn't want to do it, but I had no choice. So I put my own daughter away in a tower," he said regretfully, looking around at those present - including the one who was seething and spitting his disgust.

"Oh, it's vile! Repulsive! MEN!"

Just like that, several samurai burst in from every angle of the room, surrounding them. Some had swords raised, and the people who were taken hostage began with the emperor who shouted for his own guard to come to aid. "I'm afraid your men were incapacitated by mine without them seeing it coming," Danzo said coldly, ignoring the attendants, priest and maiden who ran out of the room for their lives - only to be met with a terrible fate to keep them silent forever. "And this sorcery changes nothing, for I am to be the new ruler, while you will die at this very moment...along with you, Itachi. I will rectify this mistake from ten years ago."

Itachi found himself surrounded by four men, and his sword was taken away despite his best attempts; he was forced onto his knees, spitting out curses in their tongue, damning the man for the kind of monster he was - and he ran out of the best that existed when he saw the woman he loved being tied down by chains as if she were a wild animal. She yelped in some pain as her wrists were joined together by that unbreakable metal, and was thrown flat onto her stomach, wailing when a foot was pressed onto her back.

"Danzo, let go of my daughter!" Minato bellowed despite the dagger that was placed at his throat. But the feudal lord regarded him without even a blink, obviously thinking that it was pathetic to see the once-great warrior reduced to such a state, underestimating him on the spot. He then glanced impassively at Itachi.

"Rather than you disemboweling everything you have in that cowardly body of yours, the job will be done for you." He was referring to Itachi's stolen katana in one of his soldiers' hold, before he turned back to Hanaru after unsheathing a kunai he produced himself. "As for you, my wife," he spat, leaning down and grabbing a fistful of her hair, pulling so hard that Kushina Namikaze's tortoise-shell comb fell out and onto the floorboards. "After you watch your father and the man you love die before your eyes, I'll have you locked back up in Ryūshima for the rest of your days -"

He wasn't going to let that happen as long as he was still here, so he threw his head backwards into the samurai who held him on his right, and when his arm was free, he brought his fingers to his lips and whistled.

The roar of the dragon outside ceased all activity and prevented any deaths from occurring.

~o~

"YES, YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ROYAL FAMILY, RATTOHEBI!"

Naruto whooped with joy when he and his gargantuan-sized dragon lady burst through the paper and wooden walls to bear down on the interrupted ceremony - where there was his father, his friend and his sister who was in her fox girl state, all captive - and there was the target himself brandishing a knife on Hanaru, keeping her chained down like an ANIMAL, and that was enough for the prince to lash using his admirer who was in the same size as she was when he and Itachi first met her.

Danzo couldn't even run as he screamed...and Hinata's double rows of teeth closed around him, making sure the knife wasn't in place. It clattered to the floor loudly. All the Shimura samurai looked on in horror, forgetting they were mighty warriors, but with their master swallowed into the belly of the beast, that meant the end for them if not for their lives. Now they would know what Itachi went through, or they could do the "honorable act" as soon as they high-tailed out.

Hinata belched then, making him and the other three down there laugh, and a big piece of black fabric fluttered down. A piece of Danzo's groom garment - the haori, which one man deserves the honor of wearing, and I'm looking at him right now. "Well, go on, Itachi," he encouraged, then flashed his grin at his father, knowing he wasn't in trouble any longer. Minato returned it along with "That's my boy".

What had he missed before? He shoved that nonsense aside and focused on the one important thing which was his sister and the mighty warrior. Itachi examined her delicate wrists to see if there was bruising from the chains, and they were faint; otherwise, the bones were not broken. He then placed gentle kisses on each one, which made her whiskered cheeks turn pink.

Those three words were exchanged in their language: "Aishiteru."

And then finally, the kiss which caused the dust to rise, surrounding Hanaru...until the light grew bright enough to blind their visions momentarily, and then it was all over.

Hanaru now lay on her side, back facing all of them, but the fox tail was gone as a sign that the spell was broken, and Naruto saw the ears gone, too. His sister was back to herself again, and by this time, the sun darkened to rich colors of love: blue, red and pink. Hinata purred and swallowed down hiccups of tears as she watched with him the last Uchiha approached his lady and helped her stand. Minato joined him and took her face into his hands, eyes glazed.

"Hanaru, my daughter." He held her into his arms for a moment before releasing her to her man - her gallant knight from the fairytales. "Itachi, as of this moment, you are pardoned and are granted my blessings."

Itachi smiled and nodded gratefully before returning back to his princess. "Hanaru," he said, at a loss for words now. But Naruto was wrong. "If I hadn't known about this, I would have thought you beautiful, taken you and run off any day."

Those were the sweetest words she'd ever heard from him, and the emperor was moved himself, knowing his daughter's happiness was more important than any political alliance - but that still left what was remaining of Danzo's men and property to handle. But if some of his samurai were killed as the rat snake claimed, he still had a super-sized dragon to be his protector.

Naruto sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I always knew this would be a happy ending," he croaked to Hinata just as the couple shared their second kiss.

~o~

In the beginning of the summer to follow was when all was finally well for the princess and her valiant champion. They'd known each other for days more than childhood, affirmed their love, but more time was necessary and to amend wrongs of the past.

The next day after the botched wedding ceremony, the emperor dispatched his messengers to give the word to the people of the village that Itachi Uchiha was pardoned by him, that Danzo Shimura plotted to overthrow him, and that all those beneath him would be disgraced or would have to do what was expected of them if they didn't want to live low.

Itachi Uchiha was reinstated, given a position among the emperor's household, and it was a great honor even though he said he didn't care anymore and meant every word. His days of selling armor and weapons stolen from samurai he killed, living in poor conditions were all at an end, but he was keeping Suki because she was and always would be his cherished friend - and he would ride her with his new bride on their wedding day.

When the day came, it was the first day of summer, to avoid sweltering temperatures and before rainfall could occur. Thankfully, it was a portrait with all the flowers in bloom; there would be fireworks that night to continue with the celebration. It made him think about that night he, Hanaru, Naruto and Hinata spent in Shukuba, which felt so long ago now but was a special memory. And the ceremony would be the moment where he had the right to look upon the woman he loved, the one he gladly would have if she were a fox girl the rest of their lives. At her radiant hair half up, half down and adorned only with her comb, the kimono a vivid yellow for the sun shining and covered with swirling, inky black vines as well as lush pink blooms. He was in the black haori for a real samurai husband and the one who deserved it more than Danzo who would never haunt their days and nights again.

Perhaps his greatest joy was kissing her and holding her for the entire village to see when it came to the reception that the civilians had the right for as much as the nobility did. Let them see she is all mine.

Her poor father was unable to contain his joy because his daughter was going to be tied for the rest of her life with someone who rescued her from doom in many forms, who treated her like the woman she was, and whom she saved in return from darkness - but his son and the girl beside him were also to thank for friendship.

The beauty with the long raven hair tinted with lavender, wearing a purple kimono shimmering with silvery blue and white flowers, had pearly white eyes as well as a genuine human smile...Hinata.

When all settled down, there came another explosion that went off: Hinata the dragon was really a human girl, whose family had been cursed long ago, eternally damned to turn into a dragon form when they reached a certain age; this usually was in the women, and their offspring would be born human only to become dragon when they reached age thirteen years. The curse had to be broken if the Hyuuga family - her clan - heirloom was destroyed. It was spoken to be a dragon statue curling around a pearl which represented the eyes its members bore. And Hinata was the latest to be cursed, which was why Emperor Minato chose her to guard his daughter at Ryūshima.

"Why didn't you tell us the truth?" Itachi remembered uttering, earning a nervous laugh.

"Because Hana-hime came first before me, as it should be. I was just a servant like the rest of my family, and proud to be," she answered, and this was before she and Naruto would go out together and back to the place where her ward and herself had been all these years. "Our family could have broken our spell, but there were always several reasons it never happened. It began in my great-grandfather's day. He hid the talisman away, but never spoke of where, and my father told me that he could never understand why he did this if the Hyuuga wanted the nightmare to end. It was both a benefit and a damnation." Her eyes shimmered. "I enjoyed my time, but I often miss being a human...and I found love for the first time. The one I saw from a distance but couldn't love openly because of our statuses, I went away so early from home and had to grow up so quickly, but I never stopped thinking about Naruto, and it grew when I saw him at the temple when you both came..."

The irises rested on Naruto who was just as red as a sinner, and his sputtering was that of a poor wreck. You'd think he would answer back that he loved her, too, but Itachi knew it, and so did his father and sister.

Afterwards, she and Naruto were off to Ryūshima. When they returned, there was the otherworldly goddess in human form that she was. Today she and the prince were hand in hand; by the looks of it, they could be the next royal couple.

That look in Naruto's eyes was exactly as she looked at him.

"Come on, husband," Hanaru said, unable to stop smiling. She was a happy young wife which made him the most joyful man alive. "Don't want to keep the big girl waiting, do we?" She was already hurrying to where Suki was being groomed for them to head off for the very same town they spent one night after he rescued her.

"No, we don't, wife," Itachi answered, helping her onto the saddle and then climbing behind her, taking the reins for the girl to whinny and rush forward, riding them off for several days of newlywed bliss. He'd waited all his life for her, without ever knowing it, and so had she.

The crowd cheered with joy as they watched the samurai and his princess bride ride off into the summer afternoon, sunflowers swaying in the breeze and the clouds thinning for the sun to bear down.

Jākumeans "jerk". XD Rattohebi for "rat snake".

And at long last, the lovers say "I love you" (Aishiteru). :3 A lot of definitions in a single day, lol.

Thank you all for your support. Final reviews are appreciated, but with more detail than just thank you. :)