Chapter 1 - Prologue

Some called them the people of the water. Others called them water nymphs. Some swore they were sirens. A few believed they were gods that ruled underwater where others argued they were just sea creatures. Others scoffed and said they were just merely myths and old woman's tales passed down from generation to generation.

Some claimed these underwater people were the most beautiful creatures to ever exist. They could their breath under and above water. Their voices were melodic and alluring. They were said to have exotic features; their tails, hair, and eyes varying in a spectrum of colors that were unknown to human eyes. The upper human part of body was smooth and creamy, free of any blemishes, while their bottom half was a long a slender tail.

They represented positive fortune for sailors, ethereal beauty for admirers, and a panacea for the ill. Their tears made diamonds and other precious stones. A drop of their blood could heal a whole village plagued by the deadliest disease. They were as much a myth to non-believers as they were an invocation to believers.

Some countered that these same underwater people were evil and represented everything cruel and malevolent. They lured sailormen with their beautiful voices and once the sailor was entrapped, these despicable creatures pulled the men underwater, drowning them to their deaths. They had sharp teeth – sharper than sharks' teethes – that they sunk into their victim's flesh. Their fish tails were slimy and poisonous, and would burn human flesh despite being underwater.

Skeptics argued that all talk about the underwater people was rubbish. It was foolish to think half human half fish creatures lived in the sea. There was no proof of such animals to exist. They were just merely tales passed around to scare little children from swimming too far into the sea and keep sailors in line.

"Mermaids."

"Huh, what?"

The dark haired man sighed. There was no point of getting frustrated. His dimwitted friend was too focused on the blank expanse of the water to really pay attention to what he was saying. This happened everytime they went out to sea. At least he did not have to put up with the idiot like his poor crewmates had too.

"Mermaids," the dark haired man slowly restated, making sure his blonde companion heard every word, "That's what the younger generation is calling these sea creatures."

His blonde companion scoffed and slightly pouted. "We're the younger generation."

"Hn," he crossed his arms, "We're not five anymore."

He got no response from his blonde friend, who continued to stare out into the sea. His usual bright, and annoyingly loud mood was abnormally somber and quiet. He did not push for an explanation but some of the crewmembers were starting to worry why their captain was not his boisterous self. It was never a good sign when he was silent and not restrained. The blonde had not made outrageous claims or insulted him for the whole two days they were at sea. Even he was starting to worry.

"A storm is coming."

He looked at the still and stern look on his blonde friend's face. He looked back out at the calm water and clear skies. "Don't be ridiculous Naruto."

"I've seen this weather before."

"Tch."

That seemed to do it. Naruto's solemn mood quickly turned and Naruto spat something along the lines of 'you don't even know how to swim, you bastard'.

He looked back at the water and hoped Naruto was not correct in his foretelling.

But Naruto was right. Dark clouds appeared out of nowhere and unleashed thunder and lightning like he never seen before. The cerulean waters changed to a dark ominous blue, as the waves rocked the ship like how an earthquake rocked solid lands. How could Naruto possibly know that the tranquil waters would soon turn dangerous? It did not matter at the moment. The only thing that mattered was surviving this harsh hell storm that came out of nowhere.

A large wave overpowered the ship and pulled several of the crewmembers in the dark waters. Shouts and yells were thrown across the deck, but he could not hear anything over the thunderous waters. Another wave washed several men overboard, and one of those men was Naruto.

Naruto never felt so panicked in his life. He did once, several years ago in his childhood, when he was in the very same situation. All he could feel around him was freezing water. He could see the lights from the ship, but they were soon turning into small dots of yellow before they completely disappeared into black abyss.

Were the waves pushing him away from the ship or the ship away from him? He did not know. He could barely feel his limbs. Naruto felt a hard piece of log ram into his shoulder. He let out a scream muffled by thunder but quickly grabbed onto it, ignoring the blazing pain that ran through his body. His shoulder was probably dislocated. He tried to remain calm but he could feel his body go into hyperventilation. His eyes slowly closed, despite his efforts to stay conscious.

When he opened his eyes he was staring at the most beautiful ivy color. After staring at it for the longest time, it blinked, and he realized he was staring into another pair of eyes. He was staring into another face. Not just any face, but the most beautiful face he'd ever seen. Something long and pink tickled his cheek. Her euphonious giggles melted the throbbing pain in his shoulder. He never heard a voice so sweet, so lyrical it almost sounded as if she was singing. Was this heaven? Was he in heaven? He died in the storm and an angel was staring down at him. If everything in heaven looked and sounded this beautiful, heaven must be a lovely place.

He did not know when his eyes closed, but when he opened them again, Naruto was staring into his mother's relieved eyes. He was not in heaven. He was back home in his chambers. Naruto must have been dreaming. His subconscious must have mustered a positive and charming fantasy to battle the harshness of the storm.

"You're never sailing again," his mother sobbed yet scolded him. How could a woman be so gentle and scary at the same time? Women were an entire different species.

His thoughts kept going back to his dream. But it could not be just a made up dream by his subconscious. He was in heaven and the beautiful angel he saw could not be a fantasy. It felt so real. She felt so real. He wanted to outline her face and post wanted signs across the country. She was real. She had to be. His doubts brought him back onto the sea. His mother gave him an earful but he promised her he would sail close to the shoreline and would dock at a port if he suspected any signs of a storm coming.

Maybe a part of him was searching for the beautiful angel or maybe a part of him just needed to be back onto the water. When his fellow crewmembers wanted to explore an island, he joined along. Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was not. But he found a beautiful maiden lying unconscious and naked. Her striking pink hair and ivy eyes reminded him of the angel that came to him in his dreams. Maybe she was his angel. He had to hear her voice. He had to hear that lyrical voice.

She could not speak.

The pink haired maiden was a mute. She was not the angel that he saw. He could barely hide his disappointment, despite her eerie resemble to his angel. But he could not leave the maiden alone on an isolated island. So Naruto decided to take her back home with him. It was the best solution to the problem.

"Who's that pretty lady?" his crewmembers winked. Naruto scowled at the suggestiveness of their voices. A part of him regretted bringing the maiden onto the ship full of drunk, lecherous sailors. What if her companions were also on the island somewhere? What if they were looking for her? He just effectively stole her from her friends or family, but he could not feel guilty of his decision.

She was a strange one. She did not know customs of the Fire Nation. His mother took an instant liking to the rose haired mute. Her obvious beauty made every lady envy the stranger. Sasuke the bastard even warmed up to her fairly quickly, and Sasuke did not warm to strangers. Ever. Her name was Sakura.

Naruto did not know when he started falling in love with the rose haired beauty. She came out of nowhere and started making his life gain a deeper meaning. Communicating was always a challenge, but they found creative ways to convey their messages. He taught her local traditions and she opened his eyes of new ways of seeing the world.

"This is formal dance," he instructed. Sakura was not strong on her feet. She was always stumbling and would always trip and fall. She had weak legs. It was a pity. She had a really strong fist, as she demonstrated on his poor painter friend and him.

That night was when he realized he was in love with Sakura. It was a ball thrown before the engagement of both their next in lines, who would connect both families. Naruto had his soon to be fiancé in his arms but his eyes were solely focused on Sakura. She was a definition of an ethereal beauty and grace. No one could compare. No one could measure up to her. No one. He knew his feelings were treacherous to the woman linked in his arms, so he pushed his feelings away.

Sakura was a close friend. They traveled together, explored lands together, ate together, breathed together. He showed her around his country. He showed her his favorite places, his favorite activities, his friends, his everything. He did not realize how she started becoming his everything. She took him to a land where only he and her existed. But she was still his friend, his mind stated. She was his love, his heart countered.

So he continued treating her like a friend. They continued spending time on the water. Sakura loved the water, maybe even more so than him. She shined on land, but she glowed when she was near the ocean. Everything about her was unreal. He did not know when Sakura replaced his angel. She was his angel now.

But he had to come back down to the lands of reality. He was soon to be engaged – a promise decided between two families years back. A war was looming at the horizon. Tensions between the countries were only growing worse by the second. There was pressure on him to soon take his father's throne and surpass all his father's accomplishments. Naruto once wanted all that – only now, all he wanted was the rose haired maiden.

Pressure came from every side in his life and he went to Sakura to find an escape. She was his escape. He did not know how much he started relying on her until she was taken from him. They had found her uncle. It was the cunning snake man, Orochimaru. How could such a pure soul be related to that slick fiend?

She slipped through his fingers as fast as she came into them. She was gone. He was never going to see her again. He chose his country over his love. He could never forgive himself. His punishment was to live the rest of his ungracious life loveless. He would never love another. He would never settle for another. It was not fair to his fiancé but it was not fair to Sakura. How could he ever hurt the most pure and genuine being in existence without paying for it for the rest of his life?

He was gone. She was never going to see him again. She gave up everything for him, and she failed. The thought never crossed her mind that she would actually fail but she did. She lost him. She lost everything: her love, her family, her friends, him. She lost her life. He was her purpose and she lost her purpose.

She was allured to his beautiful cerulean eyes that rivaled the colors of the sea and his bright golden hair that mirrored the sun. His smile would send flutters down her back and into her tail and his laugh was always winsome and frank. Sakura indulged in his strong, lean body guiltily whenever he took of his shirt under the blazing sun.

He was a human.

Sakura watched him from afar. He was the epitome of charm. He was perfect. Were all humans this perfect? She wanted to see more of them. She wanted to see them on their turf. But she could not leave the sea. She did not belong on land. So she watched him whenever he would come out to sea.

Her father never approved. Humans were a despicable species plagued with greed and illness. They were blemished creatures. She promised her father she would never surface above the water, but continued to come up and feel the sun and gaze at her handsome human.

They were not allowed to resurface above the water. It was a rule harshly implemented. There were severe consequences if one of them were caught breaking this rule. They should not be seen by human eyes. Humans did not deserve to see them, the most pure and ethereal creatures in the world. Human would corrupt them. They would pull out the scales in their tails and cut of their hair. It was all rumors, but it definitely made them wary of the people that walked on land.

"They took your mother, Sakura, they selfishly took her from you and me. Humans are abhorrent creatures. They care for no one but themselves, and bring destruction with their every step. They will not hesitate to kill you, and sell you scales for money and gold," her father would always remind her.

"I heard human females bleed regularly just to stay fertile. How strange? They also have to eat everyday. Several times a day actually! No wonder they're so fat. And when they die, their body slowly disappears to white rocks. Such funny creatures," her best friend would gossip.

"They're beneath us Sakura, they can't even breathe underwater. Such weaklings," her aunt would explain, always scoffing at the thought of humans.

When Sakura's father found out she continued to disobey his orders and continued to surface to the top to see that human, he unleashed a storm like she never seen before. The waters never were more dangerous and ominous before. She would be fine, but her golden-haired lover would not. There was no way he would survive in these waters. She could not disobey her father again, but she could not let him die. Her heart would break. So she saved him.

She risked everything to make sure he continued to breath. And she succeeded. She saved him and got a chance to touch his warm skin. This was to be their first and last meeting. She would obey her father's wishes from now. She would not rise above the water. All Sakura wanted was to see her lover up close and her wish was finally granted.

Her father was furious when he found out about her actions. Her actions risked the lives of every other. He sent her to live with her aunt, who ruled a kingdom up north where human never frequented. It was too cold for the humans. Her heart broke but she agreed. The knowledge of her lover still alive kept her living.

So she swam to her aunt's kingdom, but ran into the dark Orochimaru on her way. Sakura heard many stories of the dangerous brute, who had a snake's end. She was raised to stay away and fear the snake, but he lured her in with promises of walking on land and meeting her golden-haired lover again. So she followed him to his lair.

"I know what you want, dear Sakura. I've always known what you wanted. No one can give you what you want. But I can. I have what you want," Orochimaru tempted.

He said he could give her legs, if she gave him her voice. Sakura agreed. She made a deal with the snake. She had to make the golden-haired man hers. He had to fall in love with her. She was already in love with him, it could not be so hard making him love her. She promised she would stop lying to herself. She could not keep her deep emotions for the handsome human a secret anymore. All Orochimaru wanted was her voice.

She signed the deal and when she opened her eyes again, she was with her lover. He looked surprised and disappointed. Did he not remember her? Did he not remember their last meeting when she rescued him? It seemed like he did not. But she did not let his loss of memory get to her. She vowed to make him fall in with her.

He was a prince apparently. His father ruled a kingdom, just like how her father ruled the underwater kingdom. She wanted to tell him they were so similar but she could not. His mother was so sweet, a little scary at times, and loving. She reminded her of her own mother. Humans were not as scary as her father kept telling her. Sakura did meet greedy ones, but she met kind, selfless ones too. Humans were strange, their customs were so different than hers.

"This is a chemise, you wear it under your clothing, and then this is a corset, but you're so small, I don't think you'll need one. And then this is the dress, you wear it on top of everything," the woman explained, "although girls your age are starting to wear skirts and blouses and their hemlines, dear god, are rising. I hear some girls up north wear pants throughout the day. Oh god save them." Humans wore so many clothing, it was suffocating.

Naruto. That was his name. He was just as sweet as his mother, and loud too. The golden-haired boy loved to talk. He made up for her speechlessness. He would explain every foreign knick and knack Sakura was confused about. He showed her around his kingdom. It was beautiful. There were so many different types of humans and these humans did so many different types of things. Her home back underwater seemed boring and mundane compared to all the activities on land.

Her heart always fluttered when he was around. He took her to the grand library in his palace. She loved books. She loved gaining knowledge and learning about new things. When her nose was not in front of a book, she was with Naruto. He was always taking her places, showing her things. She let him. She would let him do anything.

He took her to foreign lands, he taught her local practices, he taught her how to use a sword. He showed her how to make human food, which was surprisingly delicious. He introduced her to his friends and companions. There was a dark-haired man that Naruto continued to call 'bastard' and another dark haired man that was an extremely skillful painter. He taught her how to wield a paintbrush but her paintings never came out as beautiful as his.

Naruto took her back out on the sea and she loved it – feeling the cool breeze and seeing the glowing water. She felt at home when she was around water. When Sakura noticed he loved the sea as much as she did, she continued to hopelessly fall into a deeper love with him. Whenever she would feel homesick, she would stare into his eyes, which was the same color as the waters she grew up in.

"I feel at home when I'm in the water," Naruto explained.

Sakura wanted to tell him the water was her home. She wanted to tell him about her home, her underwater kingdom, her friends, her family, her customs and traditions. She wanted to tell him about her. But everytime she opened her mouth, nothing came out. Her voice was the price for his company.

Then she found out he was betrothed to another. Her heart broke. How could he love her if he was pledged to marry another? Sakura met his soon to be fiancé and her heart broke more. She was the loveliest human Sakura met so far. Her heart broke more. All her sacrifices were for nothing.

She ran away from her home for nothing. She gave up her voice for nothing. Naruto would never love her. How could she be so stupid? How could she think her golden-haired lover would so easily fall in with her? She knew nothing of him. How could she not think he had an actual life? She just paraded into his world, hoping he would fall hopelessly in love with her when she knew nothing of his engagements. He was a fantasy. Her father was right. There was no room for her on the human land.

She let her heart guide her and her heart was wrong. She was wrong.

That was when she ran into Orochimaru. He was human. How could it be? He lived under the sea. How did he have legs? He was a rather prominent human figure, Sakura learned. He held power and fortune. It was the same power and fortune needed to fuel a war. Orochimaru was a devious snake. And Sakura walked into his trap.

She lost. Naruto was to marry another. Orochimaru kept her voice. Her punishment was eternal banishment was the water. She could never go home. She lost Naruto and she lost her water. She lost everything.

Stupid.

That's what she was. It was stupid to think she could leave her home to find her soul mate. It was stupid to stupid to think Naruto would ever fall in love with her. It was stupid to hold some sort of hope that if all failed, her tail would return and she would be set free back into the water. Everything was stupid.

Sakura lost count of how many tears she shed. No matter how many times her tried to seal of her feelings, her heart always ached for her golden-haired lover. She uncontrollably and undeniably loved him. She loved him with all her heart and soul. She did not know many miles were in between them, but she always felt his presence by her side and heard his carefree voice. Maybe he felt the same. Maybe he was staring at the same stars as she was. Maybe. Just maybe.

Memories were all she had felt. Memories of her home, her family, and him. He was the best memory of all. Memories of him were the only thing that kept her breathing and her heart beating. Memories of his gentle, warm touch, and sunny smiles. Memories of him showing her his life. Memories they made together. She was a fraud. He thought she was human, but she was not. It was the price she had to pay for her foolishness.

So she continued to breath, in memoriam of their love. She knew her love for him was real despite him returning the love or not. She would love him forever. She would love him until her eyes closed for the very last time. She would love for eternity. She would love him from the water to the land.

AUTHORS NOTES

I don't know where this idea came from, but I saw a picture of Naruto and Sakura dressed as Ariel and Eric on tumblr and this idea popped into my head and refused to leave until my fingers started aching from typing it all out. I did some digging and the picture is by aberrycherry (on twitter). Go check out their work. It's so beautiful, especially if you're a NaruSaku fan.

This sad little story made my heartache as I was typing. Yes, I guiltily admit I shed a few tears at the end. I suggest having some kleenex ready, or I should've warned you guys in the beginning. Whoops. The title is boring, I know. I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to change it once I come up with something better. I'm open to suggestions.

The reason, this little oneshot is not marked as complete because I'm thinking of dragging this little story out as a long fanfic. This oneshot will serve as a little preview/summary/ prologue. But, I won't be seriously typing this story until I'm at least half way through my other story (Eyes on Fire – it's a ItaSaku, go check it out). I'm hoping that I will finish Eyes on Fire by the end of this year. Knowing my lack of self-restraint, I'll probably have a chapter or two out before the year ends. But do not fret, I'm fully committed to writing this story, but it's just not going to be my main focus.

I hope I did not reveal a lot, I still have tons of ideas I want to expand on, especially the ending where Naruto and Sakura's fate seems to be doomed. Maybe they are doomed. (-laughing evilly-) This is a Little Mermaid adaption but I won't be strictly following that plotline. I want to add some actual myths and legends about mermaids, and if you guys have any good tales, please let me know.

Please review, and let me know how you guys feel about this preview – thumbs up or down?

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.

Until next time,

im-rite-here