Oneshot commission for NekoSasu760 over on y!gallery. Yes, I spelled it "maerman" on purpose, I much prefer the archaic spelling :D
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.
Normally, Naruto wouldn't dream of being up on deck in the middle of night when he wasn't even scheduled for watch-duty. He didn't know why, maybe it was the rough waters they had been passing through lately, but he just couldn't sleep tonight. The inky black sky above the ship was strewn with a few potent grey rainclouds that had been hanging around for a few days but had yet to actually do anything with their contents. All they seemed concerned with doing right now was partially blocking out the full moon that hung heavy and pregnant directly above the centre mast. Tonight's look-out, a new recruit from the last port they had passed through and shamelessly pillaged, was asleep in the fighting top, a mere silhouette against the cloud covered orb of reflected light.
Grinning a little at the way Konohamaru was so obviously asleep rather than doing his job, Naruto decided to let him be and wandered up the steps towards the bow of the ship. He nodded politely towards Shino, their insomniac helmsman, and continued forward until he was resting against the beginnings of the bowsprit, his tanned hands fanned out on the salt-bleached timber. Leaning forward, he smiled at the comforting sight of the boat so easily parting the water to either side of the keel, waves lapping at the sides of the ship before being lost in its wake. His hair was whipped off his face, flaring out behind him in the breeze caused by the speed of the ship, although the real wind was behind him and filling the sails.
He lifted his gaze up to the bleak horizon, past the rolling waves and towards the distance. It would be a few days before they could make port again, but he never minded. Being a pirate meant loving the sea more than the land, even if the land was their main source of profit and provisions.
He sighed in a breath of salty ocean air, a small smile playing on his lips, before pushing himself off the bowsprit and back into an upright position. He felt calmer now, and would probably be able to sleep.
"Night Shino," he called, receiving nothing more than a nod as he descended back to the main deck and kicked the trap door open that led to the lower levels of the ship. Just as he was about to climb down though, the wind suddenly died. It wasn't gradual either; one minute the sails were fully inflated and the next they were drooping down like wet sheets. Naruto turned and looked up at the helm, where Shino was looking around with annoyance.
"Shall I wake the crew and get them to row?" he asked, knowing he would get an earful from a few members who particularly liked their beauty sleep.
"No need." The door to the captain's quarters opened and a vast white-haired man stepped out with a slight stumble, a flagon of rum clutched tightly in one hand. Well, better Jiraiya drunk and awake right now than sober and asleep. "Weigh anchor, we're in shallow enough waters to stop here for the night."
Doing as commanded, Naruto thanked the Gods of alcohol that Jiraiya was in a good mood. He did not fancy the idea of waking Shikamaru or Kiba up and making them row in the middle of the night. The anchor fell into the water with a loud splash and the anchor-chain clinked as it reeled out to let the heavy weight sink to the sea-bed. Leaning over the starboard-side of the bow, Naruto watched the anchor disappear into the black depths, occasionally checking to make sure that the chain wasn't getting tangled.
A flash of sea-green in the dark waters caught his eye instantly, and he recognized the tell-tale sporadic light reflection of scales as a large fish swam a couple of feet below the surface, occasionally flitting into the corona of light the moon cast on the water.
"Whoa, that thing's pretty big," he mumbled.
"Whassat now Uzumaki?" A gust of rum-breath fanned across his face as Jiraiya appeared to his left and leaned drunkenly over the edge, almost losing his captain's hat to the ocean below.
"Captain!" Naruto grabbed the back of Jiraiya's coat and hauled him backwards. "Why don't you get some sleep? I'll stay up and keep watch."
"Huh? But the new kid's on watch duty."
Naruto pointed up to the fighting top where loud snores were starting to emanate. Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "I see your point. Alright Quartermaster, you're in charge until morning. Not that there'll be a lot for you to do, we haven't seen another ship for days."
"I'm sure I can entertain myself Captain," Naruto assured him with a grin, ushering Jiraiya towards his quarters and making sure the old man had successfully reached his bed before shutting the door and wandering back to the bow and leaning over to see if he could spot that fish again.
"Stop..."
Naruto whipped around at the whispered word. It had been little more than a breath, a ghosting of a word, but he'd definitely heard someone speak. At the strange look he received from Shino though, he realised it had probably just been a gust of wind.
"Maybe I'm more tired than I thought," he said under his breath, leaning back out over the side and resting his arms on the side. His eyes flitted about over the surface of the water, looking for that tell-tale glimmer of sea-green again, but was disappointed when he couldn't spot the fish.
"Sasuke, stop!" This time, it was unmistakeably a voice, and it was coming from... the keel? It was quickly followed by the splash of something large falling into the water below. Naruto swallowed down fears of ghosts and spirits, trying to convince himself that those were just stories to frighten the young recruits, and leaned further out so he could see where the ship met with the water.
All he saw was the slowly-spreading ripples of whatever had fallen in the water. Maybe a fish had jumped?
Naruto sighed and glanced towards the bow, and was met with a pair of nightmare-black eyes.
"Aa-mmph!" A wet hand as pale as the moon itself covered his mouth, preventing him from screaming.
"Shh! Do you want to let everyone know I'm here?" a deep, whispered voice hissed at him.
Naruto's first thought was yes, of course he wanted to let the crew know there was a fucking evil spirit clinging to the bow of their ship! But he quickly revised that opinion when those heavy rainclouds finally cleared out of the moon's path and this 'evil spirit' was illuminated for only him to see.
At first, he thought that it was a man. A ridiculously pale, beautiful man, with jet black hair that hung damp and spiked around his perfect face. He was holding onto one of the cannon-ports with one arm, his bicep flexed and clearly visible as droplets of water rolled off him. But when Naruto's eyes drifted further down, he was met with that sea-green glistening he had seen before. A long, beautiful turquoise fish-tail was where the man's legs should be, the very end swishing from side to side in a way that was reminiscent of a cat.
His eyes grew impossibly wide as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing. Of all the tall tales he had heard as a pirate, maerfolk were the beings he had been most sceptical about. And yet here he was, leaning over the side of his own ship and looking at what was unmistakably a maerman.
Those eyes as dark as the horizon flicked about cautiously, checking to see if there was anybody nearby before leaning in closer to Naruto's face. "Don't be afraid, human. I'm not going to hurt you."
That voice. It was like a damn lullaby, it was so smooth and deep. Naruto could feel his heartbeat slowing with each syllable that passed from those perfect pale lips.
The maerman must have judged that Naruto wasn't going to make a scene, because he took his hand away and went back to holding onto the side of ship with both hands. His torso was well built, with strong muscles in his shoulders and arms and a firm chest that glistened with water. Naruto could only gawp, doing a better impression of a fish than the half-fish being was.
The maerman let go of the cannon-port with one hand briefly and pushed his jet-black hair out of his eyes. "I'm Sasuke," he said in hushed tones. "I'm... well, you probably know what I am."
"You..." Naruto rubbed his eyes in astonishment, still unable to believe that what he was seeing was actually real. "You're a maerman?"
The maerman (Sasuke) nodded, causing his bangs to fall back into his eyes. "Yes. I was curious about your ship and decided to take a closer look. We rarely see humans in these waters, and they hardly ever weigh anchor when they do pass through, so it was... an opportunity I couldn't pass up."
"Was that you talking before?" It was the only thing Naruto could think of to say that wasn't unintelligible garbling.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and glanced down at the waters below. "No, that was my friend Neji. He's... nervous about your kind. As soon as you leaned over he dove back into the water."
As if he knew he was being talked about, a human head emerged from the water and looked up at them with eyes as white as Sasuke's were black. Sleek onyx hair fanned out around the second maerman, long and soft and blending in with the water. "Prince Sasuke! Get down here now or your father is going to kill me!"
Another eye-roll from Sasuke. "Calm your tail, Neji. Do something useful like keep watch or something."
"You're a prince?" Naruto blurted out, still unable to think of anything sensible to say.
"Damn, now my cover's blown," Sasuke said sarcastically, his tail swishing playfully. "Yeah, I'm a prince, pleased to meet you and all that jazz."
If possible, Naruto's eyes grew even wider. Neji's, in comparison, narrowed in irritation before he disappeared beneath the surface of the water, supposedly to do his prince's bidding.
Sasuke reached up and grasped the railing, pulling himself up with pure upper-body strength until he was able to peek over the top and spy on the upper deck. He looked around with almost childish curiosity, a strange contrast to his hypnotic, siren-like appearance. "So this is what it looks like! I've always wondered."
"Uhm..." Naruto was still getting used to the fact that he was apparently having a conversation with a real-life maerman, but he scrambled around in his brain for something to say. "So, anything you want to know? You must have... er... questions?"
"Oh, I have more questions than you'd be able to answer in a single night," Sasuke chuckled, glancing sidelong at Naruto who had leaned back so that he was in-line with the curious maerman. "For now, your name will suffice."
"Me?" Naruto scratched his nose, feeling inexplicably bashful all of a sudden. "Uh, I'm Quartermaster Naruto Uzumaki, pleased to make your acquaintance... your Highness?" The last part was voiced as a question, unsure whether he needed to address royalty of a different species in the same way as he would human royalty.
"Oh please, just call me Sasuke. I get enough of the pleasantries underwater without getting it from your kind as well." Pulling himself up a little more, Sasuke rested his forearms on the railing in the same fashion as Naruto was now doing, seemingly able to support his weight even though his tail was not resting on anything and was still swishing from side to side. "So Naruto, you're a pirate?"
"Uh, yeah. Have been since I was little."
"I see. Do you enjoy it? Do you see many interesting new lands in your travels?"
"Yeah. It's pretty cool, I guess." Naruto wished right now that he was a more verbose and eloquent person. Under normal circumstances he could talk the hat off any pirate, but these weren't exactly normal circumstances. And to be fair, Sasuke wasn't wearing a hat.
Right now though, Sasuke was looking at him as though he was retarded, so Naruto quickly added, "We just came from Port Cloud actually, never seen a place quite like that. They've got machinery that runs of fuckin' lightning or some crazy shit."
"You don't say," Sasuke said with surprise. "What strange things you have witnessed, Quartermaster Naruto Uzumaki."
"Uh, just Naruto is fine."
A small but mesmerising smile curled at Sasuke's lips. "Okay, 'Just Naruto'." His eyes trailed slowly down Naruto's tan face before returning to the pirate's own blue ones. "Strange. I had so many questions to ask once I finally got to talk to a human but... I've forgotten them all right now."
"Uh-huh?" Naruto was suddenly painfully aware of how they were elbow-to-elbow on the railing, Sasuke facing towards the upper-deck and Naruto towards the open seas. The water was drying on Sasuke's pale skin and leaving strange patterns of salt in its place.
"Yeah..." Sasuke trailed off, watching him with a contented expression on his face.
They lapsed into silence, simply watching each other. Naruto couldn't get over how beautiful Sasuke was. In all his life he'd seen his fair share of handsome men and pretty women, but this maerman blew them all out of the water, if you'll pardon the pun. There was an ethereal grace to the way he moved; each action was deliberate and smooth. The human part of his body was wrapped in flawless, unblemished skin whilst the fish part glittered like a sentient chest of emeralds.
It was Sasuke who broke the silence first. "I've always admired this about your kind." The hand closest to Naruto ghosted softly over his tanned skin, making the blond hairs on his arms rise. "The rich colour of your skin is so beautiful; it reflects your life in the sun perfectly."
"Strange, I was thinking the same thing about your skin," Naruto said with a gruff, embarrassed voice. "It's so... perfect."
"A maerman rarely scars," Sasuke said in his soothing, lullaby-voice. "We all have this 'perfect' skin, it's a little boring if you ask me. We all look the same."
"I doubt that," Naruto mumbled, unable to believe that anything could look as perfect or as hypnotic as Sasuke did.
They fell back into silence and continued to look at each other, taking in every minute feature. At one point, Sasuke lifted a hand and stroked his fingers over the scars adorning Naruto's cheeks, although he didn't ask how Naruto had gotten them. It wasn't a tale Naruto would have told him easily at any rate. Sasuke seemed fascinated with them though, and Naruto recalled the prince's words about how maerfolk hardly scarred. He must be quite the sight to Sasuke. He had always been self-conscious of his scars, but Sasuke's fascination with them didn't bother him in the slightest for some reason. In fact, his stomach was fluttering with the sensation of thousand butterflies, a sensation which only intensified when Sasuke touched his face with those perfect hands.
Eventually, Sasuke's friend resurfaced and hissed up at the prince to get down right away, and this time Sasuke reluctantly agreed that he should be getting back to his home before anybody noticed that he was gone.
"You have to go?" Naruto asked sadly as Neji ducked back underwater. Sasuke brushed salt off his skin and nodded with annoyance.
"They will notice my absence if I stay here any longer. I presume that you will be setting off again when the sun rises?"
"Yeah, we've only got enough provisions to last us until Port Mist."
Sadness clung to the night air around them as they realised that they would probably never meet again. It felt so unfair to Naruto; it was like having all his worldly possessions snatched from him without warning.
A splash from below alerted them to Neji's growing impatience. Sasuke sighed reluctantly. "I have to go. It was nice meeting you, Quartermaster Naruto Uzumaki."
"I told you, just Naruto," he replied with a sad smile.
Sasuke paused in the process of turning so that he had his arms hooked behind him on the railing of the ship, leaning out like the most beautiful figurehead. "Right, just Naruto. My apologies." Letting go of the railing with the arm closest to Naruto, he reached up and grasped the pirate's tan jaw gently. Hesitating for only a second, he pulled Naruto down towards him and sealed their lips together in a brief kiss that permanently seared itself into Naruto's memory. "A little something to remember me by," he murmured as the kiss broke, his words dusting over Naruto's lips like hot mist.
There was a moment where they just stared into each others' eyes, and then Naruto leaned down and recaptured Sasuke's lips in a much more heated kiss, tongue pushing into the maerman's mouth and one tanned hand reaching down to tangle in damp black hair. Sasuke's fingers tightened painfully on his jaw but Naruto barely noticed because Sasuke started to kiss back, his soft tongue chasing Naruto's back into his own mouth and pressing against the roof of the pirate's mouth, light gasps escaping the seams of their lips as they moved against each other. Sasuke tasted like the sea, salty and memorable, and Naruto knew that every time he got a lungful of ocean breeze from now on he would be brought back to this moment as though it were happening all over again.
When they broke the kiss this time it was with great reluctance. Sasuke had a frown marring that beautiful face, and Naruto reached up to smooth it out affectionately. "Port Mist is twenty kilometres north of here. We're going to be there for about a month... perhaps I'll take a walk down to the harbour every night."
"Are you suggesting that I swim for twenty kilometres every night to have some secret tryst with a human?" Sasuke asked playfully, a smirk replacing the frown. "And a pirate no less?"
"A beautiful pirate," Naruto corrected, waggling his eyebrows. "And yes, maybe I am."
"Well, you're certainly bold," Sasuke chuckled. "But perhaps on one of your nightly strolls, we might bump into each other."
"I look forward to it, Prince Sasuke."
Another hiss from Neji brought them out of their reverie of good-byes and Sasuke pulled away from Naruto's lips with reluctance. "Good night, Naruto. It was nice meeting you." Before he could hear the pirate's reply, he let go of the railing, turning his fall into a graceful dive that barely left a ripple as he entered the water and vanished into the depths, Neji hot on his tail.
Naruto stared down at the place where he had last seen the strange being, wondering if this was all just an elaborate dream of his and that he had fallen asleep on watch just like Konohamaru. But the lingering taste of salt on his lips left him hopeful that this was real, that Sasuke was real.
He straightened up, his back creaking from where he had been leaning forward for such a long time. The rain clouds had moved on into the distance, back the way they had come, leaving the sky ahead clear and strewn with stars.
"I wonder if it's proper etiquette to make out with royalty?" he mused to himself, chuckling under his breath as he took one last glance down at the waters below before taking a walk back down to the main deck. "Then again, he wasn't exactly your typical prince."