Shining Armor

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy the grand finale of Shining Armor. Thank you all so much for giving this unconventional pairing a try. Happy reading.

Chapter Notation: This takes place sixteen years after the previous chapter.

Chapter 16

Hinata smiles at the ball as she watches everyone dance, drink, and be marry. It had been a little over seventeen years since she married her husband and now, their children were nearly grown.

"Don't worry." The bluenette smiles at her eldest. "You'll be a grand king one day. Just as your father and grandfather are."

Fortunately, Hiashi didn't need to fret over that just yet. He was only sixteen and Kakashi was in excellent health. It seemed unlikely that he would have to bare the burden and embrace the privilege of ruling in his own right for quite sometime.

Hiashi smiles at her and nods. "Oh I know that." The young man was biting his lower lip though. "It's just that it's hard sometimes to think that I'm going to be responsible for all of England one day."

It was probably just as well that he was the eldest. His hair was styled like his father's, but the boy took more after her in terms of personality. Which meant he was more naturally inclined to rule in Hinata's opinion.

"Let us just be grateful that it is you who is destined to rule and not your brother." She giggles playfully. "He's far more interested in the gowns women are wearing than he is in crowns."

Well more specifically, Sakumo liked flirting with the women who looked best in said gowns. That was just who he was though. It was almost eerie how much he took after his father.

"This is true." Hiashi chuckles and shakes his head. "The ladies of court do not seem to begrudge him this though."

No. They most certainly did not. Some things truly did go in cycles.

One day, Sakumo would find the girl that he preferred above the rest. For now though, well it was amusing to watch him try to flirt with those who were frankly more experienced than him and who at best thought him an adorable puppy or even more amusing, when he did make advances towards those poor girls who were of an appropriate age for him to pursue.

Cora smiles as she watches the merriment. As expected her elder brother Sakumo was the life of the party. Dancing the night away with whatever beauty took his fancy and Hiashi ever the studious future king, well he was sitting by their mother.

For her part, the fourteen year old was content to watch everyone else. This was especially the case when it came to the happy couples. Konohamaru and Hanabi, Sasuke and Temari, Mei and Gaara, and Itachi and Konan. Soon enough though the young princess knew what would happen next.

"Father will ask mother to dance and that will be the end of that." She giggles at the thought as she runs her fingers through her silver locks that complimented her sapphire blue gown nicely. "He's always been the best dancer in the kingdom."

Oh she had grown up hearing the tales of King Kakashi had won the dancing competition. He should have won others, but Neji was rather strict when it came to judging and other circumstances intervened.

It mattered little though. Her father and mother had been happily married for years. She and her brothers were living proof of that.

"May I have this dance, Princess Cora?" A voice startles her from her musings.

It took her a few seconds to realize who was addressing her. "Oh yes." She smiles at him. "Of course, Prince Shisui."

He was the son of Queen Konan and High Prince Itachi. It was hard not to know of him. There were only a handful of people with blue hair and he was one of them.

The boy certainly favored his father in looks, but that mane of steel blue hair he had inherited from his mother. That was as clear as day.

"Wonderful." He smiles and leads her onto the dance floor.

As she was twirling underneath his arm, the princess looks around and notices a man with silver hair. Kabuto had become a court physician long ago, but she still didn't care for him much.

"Is something distressing you?" He looks at her with concern.

Cora sighs, but forces herself to dance as if nothing was wrong. "I just don't trust Kabuto all that much." How could she? "He once served King Orochimaru and you know what he was like as well as I do."

Shisui nods in sympathy though his eyes flicker over towards a blonde prince who looked like Sasuke and a princess who was the spitting image of Queen Mei save for Gaara's hair and eyes. The message was clear. Kabuto wouldn't dare try anything with them there.

"Prince Kenji and Princess Saachi would never allow Kabuto to do anything untoward and neither would any of us." He smiles at her as they continue their dance. "Never fret on it. Kabuto knows what happened to King Orochimaru as well as we do."

She barely bites back a gasp at his implication. "He was bitten by a snake." Everyone knew that, but few knew the exact circumstances of how the Spanish King had met his untimely demise.

Shisui looks at her with amusement flickering in his eyes as he twirls her around the dance floor. It was amazing, how he could speak without any words.

"I know that even you aren't kind enough to believe he just happened to anger a species that rarely attacks people." He chuckles. "We know what really happened and I'm sure that Kabuto does as well."

That was likely true. Certainly, the silver haired man didn't seem to be in any hurry to upset anyone further.

"You're right." She nods dumbly.

Protesting the truth would have been pointless. Shisui was simply too clever to believe it anyway.

He laughs softly and nods. "Of course, I'm right." He was so modest, Cora thinks to herself with a slight eye roll as father glides over to her mother.

So there it was. There would be no question soon enough about who the finest dancers in all the land were. No one could compete with her father when it came to the waltz.

"May I have this dance?" Kakashi smiles at his wife.

It was astonishing really. She was even more beautiful today than she was on the day he fell in love with her. So many years had passed and yet, some things remained timeless. His love for her being one of them.

Hinata giggles as she rises to her feet. "Yes, you may." For a moment, she looked every inch a young maiden once again.

Not that his wife was elderly by any stretch of the imagination. Still, she was a woman with three grown children and if he hadn't been born with silver hair, his own hair would have been graying by now.

"Wonderful." He smiles at her. "I shall consider myself highly honored to dance with such a beautiful queen then."

As well any man should be, he thinks to himself as they make their way to the floor. All eyes were on them once again. Not that Kakashi could blame anyone for staring at Hinata.

"Yes, you should." She laughs softly while wrapping her arms around his neck. "Though I mostly put up with you for your exceptional dancing skills."

Neji was nearby and hears that. It was rare to see the stoic man completely surrender to any sort of merriment, but Hinata and Tenten had a way of warming even that glacier.

Hinata sways gracefully in time with the music. "Why are you glaring at my cousin so intensely?" Very little got passed his wife.

That was part of what made her such an excellent queen though. Oblivious queens tended not to stay queens for very long. It was just a fact of life when you lived in a court filled with intrigue.

"Oh nothing." He chuckles, trying his best to protest his innocence. "It's just that Neji can be such a stick in the mud. Do you remember when he disqualified my joke from the jesting contest?"

It had been years ago, but Kakashi had never forgotten it. He had been trying so hard to impress Hinata that he had quite literally been reduced to a fool. Well at the very least, the current English King had been reduced to entering a contest filled with them anyway.

"Yes, I recall." Hinata giggles and shakes her head. "I cannot believe that you're still pouting about that."

Alright. Maybe he was pouting a bit. Mercifully though, Lady Tenten had managed to mellow Neji out. Somewhat. One couldn't expect miracles.

He shrugs and kisses his beautiful queen. "Anyone who tries to keep you from me for whatever reason either earns my wrath or my pouting." Neji was just fortunate that it was the latter and not the former.

"Good to know." Hinata smiles as she kisses back. "I don't know where I would be without you."

Neither did he. It was hard to imagine that so long ago, Kakashi had only wanted to marry her to save the woman from those damn vultures. Now, he couldn't imagine living his life without her. Without their three children.

Speaking of which, Sakumo was currently trying to charm an older noblewoman. The woman had to be in her twenties. Oh boy.

"He does take after his father." Hinata laughs.

"I may be a young stallion, but I'm quite eager to please." The prince smiles at the baroness. "Perhaps you can teach me how to trot properly."

She laughs and shakes her head. Sakumo was lucky that most didn't mind indulging his antics, Kakashi muses. He was just young enough that no one would take his advances too seriously.

"We're going to have our hands full, finding a woman who can rein him in." He chuckles at his wife.

Hinata nods in agreement. Though she smiles fondly at their youngest son all the same before her eyes settle on Hiashi. Their heir.

"Perhaps Hiashi will help us with that quest." The bluenette winks at her husband. "He is Sakumo's twin. I'm certain that he would know what Sakumo finds appealing better than we would and he's always been so practical."

That was a fair point. Well, still they had a bit of time before that became a major issue. For now, Kakashi was content to dance the night away. Even if he was a bit concerned about another breaking development.

"You're right." His wife was always right of course. "What of Cora though?"

He wasn't entirely sure what to make of how closely Prince Shisui was dancing with her. They were both far too young for that sort of nonsense. Well at least in his mind anyway.

Cora was their youngest child and their only princess. It was only natural, Kakashi muses that he would feel even more protective of her than he did of her brothers.

"Sir Gai!" Lee though was distracting. "I think that you've had too much." Well more specifically, Sir Gai was being distracting and Lee was trying to rein in the other man.

By now, Lee was a knight in his own right. Though those two were rarely seen apart from one another. It was touching really and Kakashi often invited them to join him on various hunting parties.

"Dear Lord." Hinata laughs as she takes his hand in her own. "Will you be my knight in shining armor again and save me from whatever drunken antics are about to ensue?"

Kakashi chuckles at that and scoops the beautiful queen into his arms bridal style. "Always my love." He didn't care in the slightest that everyone was now staring at them as he carried the bluenette off in his arms.

She was his wife. Hinata belonged there just as surely as it was his sacred duty and privilege to have her there. It was just one of the many perks of being her knight in shining armor.