First merman!Itachi fic, and a femNaruto. :D Who'd have thought I'd do THAT? But I have done a female version of a main male character once or twice before, but not for Naruto. Anyway, this new story of mine is in thanks to movies like Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Little Mermaid, and Aquamarine. Fics from here on include "Shark Bait" by 404wan and "Splash of Colors" by kenmadoll (both unfinished but still great). Each chapter is also named after (as usually) and inspired by pieces from one of my favorite YouTube composers, Derek and Brandon Fiechter. The legend of the ningyo (Japanese mermaid) is also to thank.

Absolutely nothing belongs to me. :(

Chapter One

Aqua World

The mist was clearing, and the waves were subsiding. If they were all living in medieval or period times, this thing would be rickety and would require brutal hands and body work on ropes and the flags overhead to protect against a murderous storm that came their way.

The industry was facing one of its greatest challenges yet despite the fact business was good as usual, and they were heading home with the season's worth.

Despite the fact that Japan was the largest nation in the fishing corporation, on both farm life and within the surrounding sea, the time and difficulty preparing consumption of fish as well as imports continued to increase since the eighties. Notable numbers of the population blamed global warming, and others greedy fishermen who illegally caught fish without permits. The latter was seldom proven concrete. Yet despite this, it was the honest life he'd wanted for himself and his family.

His ship was one he'd personally requested with what funds he had left from his old career, slowly paid in parts without taking out of his family's life savings. The yellow hull he'd painted with help ended up a dull mustard instead of the vivid sun he'd imagine. It was an old factory ship used to process and freeze what was caught fresh from the ocean - both fish and whale mostly, the latter threatened with extinction depending on the species. Processing vessels like this one was growing dramatically and outshone simple little fishermen's boats up the river and on the lakes.

He personally named it the "Yellow Flash" - Kiiro no Furasshu in his tongue. Its engines were configured to be the fastest ship above the others today.

Amongst the caught and consumed within Konoha and surrounding nations were salmon, shrimp and tuna, and they were imported the most. But the imports were being lowered for prices' sake by the government; as a result, it was now insisting its people keep whatever they caught for each other. There were also the best catches according to season: spring's bonito, autumn's squid and saury, as well as the summer favorite which was the yellow-tailed snapper. Which brought Minato to the present.

We got more than those anglers down there managed this time. To think those pin needle-jawed fiends were going to devour their catch before they could. Animals devoured each other beneath the waters as humans would each other in terms of survival, if not in the literal sense.

The Yellow Flash didn't hit a reef again as it did the last time, but these areas were charted better than the olden periods ever were. Yellowtails resided even in deeper, open waters besides coral reefs; the length would be thirty to one hundred and twenty feet of water. He and his fellow fishermen had one more week out here before they would head home for another two weeks and then come out for more.

Whale was out of the question on his boat, if it risked a decline in profits, but some things were best left as they were. Minato set that standard himself out of other living options.

The net sailed over their heads and dribbled massively on deck as the prize was brought over the railing. Whistles and cheers sounded after days of leaving bags of chum at the bottom for the prey. As per usual, three million tons. Which Kakashi Hatake voiced aloud, knowing what he was thinking all too well.

Kakashi was his "first mate" and the one who suggested he take up fishing even if times were hard. Either way, it was a peaceful living compared to the sufferage of wartime for their people. Minato owed the younger, silver-haired man his life. Kakashi grew up an orphan and had to resort to every means he could to live, that at a point the Namikaze considered him as a younger brother he never had. In fact, when his wife was pregnant, Hatake protected her for Minato while he and the man who was his superior and like a father to him went after the one responsible...resulting in the culprit vanishing from the face of the earth. That was the main reason he left the forces, but chose to keep in touch every now and then.

"That should be it, Captain," Asuma Sarutobi noted after a long drag of his cigarette. "Now we all can put them in the freezer and head home. Kurenai and I can't wait to see the kid again."

Kushina and Naru will be happy to see me, too.

The majority of the crew of the Yellow Flash had families and children of their own, and a small percent were college students on spring or summer break working to gain experience for the real world. Among was Shikamaru Nara, whose father was a tactics spy in the Konoha Police Force. Minato stifled a chuckle when he heard the young man mutter, "It's a relief. This has all been a drag." It's been for us all, kid, he wanted to say. But the good news was there was enough fish for all of them; winter to come in more months was the best as there was crab and shrimp. These fellows were not that different from the king of Alaska.

"Well, do you find it a bit odd, Minato?" Kakashi asked, handing the blond man a hankerchief to wipe the sweat off his brow. "The...Red Dawn -" He lowered his voice to a hush for that forbidden name. "- hasn't been around in the last couple weeks."

Minato had to agree. For all they knew, their biggest competition - the red-hulled "Red Dawn" factory ship, otherwise known as Akatsuki - hadn't been seen or heard from since the last incident. No one knew who their members or even their captain in charge were, but their methods of fishing were branded in the category of illegal. They were never caught, no one ever saw them coming even if you tried to prepare for their next move...

It seemed the Kami above were smiling on them today.

~o~

"Poor little guys," Shisui said sadly, shaking his head. The great net wrapped around the latest line of unfortunate yellowtails after their meal was lured down to them. Pieces of fish remains drifted out from the metal boxes and baskets that were lowered from the great ship above them. The great shadow cast darkness in a ray down the ocean's depths, over this particular area where the snappers were fasting now...only to be ensnared by a fate as equally damning for them as it was being prey for the anglers.

And the other creatures themselves who watched the scene behind a collection of coral and seaweed.

They were both male, human in the top half but fish-like in the bottom. Their tails were both black, with the fins glimmering silver as well as the ones that ran up their backs to the bases of their skulls. But one had long, wild raven hair as well as shimmering hints of red in his scales and fins, the other bearing streaks of white and short, curling hair atop his head. The latter was Shisui Uchiha, a member of one of the oldest and sole surviving clans beneath the Eastern Ocean.

The other was Itachi, his cousin who was younger than he, and considered the more beautiful of the two, and he was aware of it himself. His younger brother, who was not present, came in second.

Their kind was a rare sight amongst others of the tales told between the humans for centuries. They were called ningyo - otherwise mermaid or merman, sex-wise like the humans. However, as stated, the Uchiha and a couple other oceanic clans were rare and miraculously still alive, whereas other merfolk were known in the region to be far from appealing to the eye unlike their Western and Mediterranean counterparts. The common carried bony features, simian-like features as well as deadly claws to ensnare their prey amongst the schools of fish and other marine. In other words, the Asian kinds were depicted as nightmarish and to pay heed.

It was not that the Uchiha's resemblance to the breeds of the west were unheard of, but they were simply rare compared to the dominating beasts. This had begun towards the fall of the Edo era in the region of Japanese waters to the American and Caribbean regions. The known clans to stem from those who migrated from across were his and Shisui's own Uchiha, followed by Senju, Haruno and Yamanaka. There wasn't anyone who was not connected by immediate and distant blood or marriage.

Itachi was to be the next in line, as chief of his kin. The current, the old Fugaku - if not that old - would soon retire and put his eldest son in the seat. The Uchiha and Senju were like oil and water over who would rule the underwater realm, but two sides of the same coin coincided for the greater good.

He shouldn't be out here at this time, though Shisui did drag him out once in awhile to get away from Fugaku and the demeaning drills. The punishments were severe, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Sasuke was to be spared from the humiliation of being flogged in public before their brethren and allies. The Uchiha pain tolerance - with extreme care to not bleed and attract sharks - was high, but they all were. A human being was fragile compared to them.

The great net above brought him out of his musings. The humans became more advanced with the ways of marine fishing as the ages passed. As a consequence, certain species were becoming less and less, such as the whales. Not every human was the same, but these ones in particular were on their hate list. Neither of them or any of their people would think about taking ANY of the bait from the fishermen.

Shisui cleared his throat as the danger vanished, taking the catch with it. "Well, now that that's out of the way, how about we get what we came all the way out here for, cousin?" He grinned, and Itachi's slight smile was managed best.

The long-haired Uchiha gave a short nod and was the first to glide from behind the coral, his tail fin shimmering powerfully. Any remaining yellowtails to eat with his favorite seaweed, he was looking forward to it. It was one of the things his mother didn't like, which was spoiling his appetite before the family dinner. He wasn't ungrateful or anything, but he was a maturing merman and took advantage when the opportunity presented itself.

Shisui also did teach him that there was more to sea life than just within the palace walls.

~o~

Finally, the day was over! Now she could go see Hinata and convince her that a couple hours on the beach, sipping the best beverages and such would be worth the long hours and entire week waiting. It's going to be a summer bomb, believe it! She thought this with a blinding grin that the sun flashed off on her even, pearly white teeth.

Naru Uzumaki was a rare exception to go to college, and so was her lifelong best friend, Hinata Hyuuga. Majoring in marine sciences and environmentalism. Her mother was an acting environmentalist herself, breaking her sweat, blood and tears to preserve the wild while her husband fished out in the sea for survival. Kushina had a hell of a temper when someone interfered with that, but at the same time, you did what you had to in order to survive. Their country was hitting a rough spot with the marine industry, and a main reason was the small, slowly growing number of illegal fishermen out there. One was called the Red Dawn, which her father Minato told her about.

If she had all the power, more than now, she would have been a member of the government to condemn these bastards. A handful of her friends had connections or were within the body themselves.

But no one wanted to use her own fist other than Kushina herself. It was scary to see the woman's face get so red it matched her hair as well as the blazing white eyeballs and visible, pounding vein. Even when her own, equally hot-blooded, hyperactive daughter got out of line in childhood, she would be the butt of Kushina's red hot temperament.

Poor Minato would stay by in fear of being a part of his wife's wrath.

Their only daughter, Naru - whom they named after the main character, Naruto, in a book written by Minato's mentor, but shortened it to a feminine version since the character was male - walked the streets of Konoha on a breezy summer day in a light, gauzy tan dress that hid her assets, snugged her upper body but flared at the waist, the sleeves three quarters in length. Around her nicely shaped waist was a small dark belt which was a drawstring. She had her hair in a high ponytail; it was yellow-gold like her father, and she inherited his bright blue eyes which crackled with electricity. Her earrings, necklace and ring - which she wore around her right forefinger - were rose-gold and consisting of three lines crossed with three crystals, giving off positive energy in negative. She hadn't had any new jewelry since high school years when the economy began to drop that it was insisted she keep what she had already and was content. She never saw herself spoiled, although some disagreed. Minato loved his daughter as much as he loved his wife, and he'd been the finest ever in Konoha's recent years, but what happened to the family not long before she was born had caused him so much guilt that he had to quit and become an honest fisherman.

Kushina was home when she arrived, but it wasn't her fire-haired mother whom Naru greeted as soon as she walked through the door. During summer, she worked with her mother because she cared about Konoha's way of life as much as Kushina did - even if some of those issues concerning animal life and pollution would be trouble for the people and how they lived at home. But you would never be able to make everyone happy if you wanted to. "Kurama! Good boy, did you miss me?" She laughed and dropped to her knees when the buzz of red-orange came her way and jumped onto her, licking her face then and there.

Just how the hell could anyone call this adorable guy a pest, like they treated others of his kind? The red fox had long since been hunted for its fur and other reasons, which was monstrous, and it wasn't even that big of a threat to humanity! They only attack when provoked, and they eat smaller animals with meat. She'd been in the forest when her group got word that hunters were trespassing a certain area of Konoha's woods, so they were secretly called to investigate and then free the animals - but bring them to the lab for testing on diseases before releasing back into the wild.

All it took was a simple eye contact with the single fox in custody. Whose eyes, you ask? Naru's. She simply made a connection by fate as if finding a soul mate.

Kushina had been adamant about bringing a wild animal into her home, and it took a hell of a lot of convincing to the government and the paperwork needed. It was legal to take a wild animal you saved into your home if you could tame it. But Kurama had warmed up to her. Naru named him that way because he was the great survivor of his family and kin being taken from him before she and company arrived, which boiled her blood to optimum levels - and she was allowed to pummel the perps to a bloody pulp with Mama Kushina beside her. And before anyone could judge her, it felt better than going to the gym.

"Oh, boy, you're getting better!" Naru exclaimed, picking him up. He was only a few years old, and like others of his kind, he was allowed to leave the den when he was almost four weeks old. His weight would eventually become so heavy that she would have trouble carrying him now.

Kurama whimpered and scurried ahead at the harsh call across the house. "Naru, you'd better get in here! Your father is going to be home soon." She paused momentarily in her tracks. Minato was done with his course and was coming home, for another couple weeks. She was half excited, and the other half was a bit disappointed. Hinata would have to wait then.

The fox looked up at her and barked a little, his tail swishing out in a random loop. His little grin told her he was planning a little surprise when Minato came back. She laughed and shooed him forward. This was why foxes were so sacred in her native folklore and others'; they were tricky ones, indeed.

There stood the lady of the house herself, at the sink and setting up the table. Minato would be bringing in the newest of the food. Naru was ecstatic; ramen was her favorite food, but she also loved Mom's cooking and the fresh catch Dad brought home. She even learned how to prepare family meals like this for when she someday found a husband and started a family.

The door opened, and Minato arrived right on schedule. It was none other than the seasonal yellowtail snapper. Naru's mouth watered as she thought of the light flaky mean that tasted so sweet it was indescribable...

Kurama ran up to the man himself, who laughed and nearly tripped. "Are you trying to kill the man of the house, buddy?" he exclaimed, bending down and petting the fox's snout.

"Just makes me wonder why I agreed to let our daughter keep the little beast," Kushina stated with a grunt, going up to her husband and kissing him, taking the bag of catch from him, thrusting it into Naru's hands. "You know what to do, little lady!" she said, changing to her sweet, toothy smile in a heartbeat.

Naru bit back her sigh to not set off her mother today, and when she turned to head back into the kitchen, she passed the wedding picture of her parents on the wall - with the two of them on the beach, and Kushina had been pregnant at the time, roughly seven months. The dress was blushing, ethereal and floating over her body, but her face was a much darker shade as her new husband leaned in to kiss her like there was no tomorrow. That alone brought a fire to Naru's cheeks - but as soon as she was in the kitchen, she heard her dad speak to her mother with dire gravity.

"...Red Dawn still isn't active. It's possible they're laying low. I have a feeling Jiraiya will get something eventually." He sighed sharply, which made Kushina furrow her brow; Naru didn't need to look to know, since she knew her mother too well.

"You think they could call you back?"

There was a pause before Minato answered. He'd quit the force just before his daughter was born; the latter worried about this, because if this was that guy who almost killed her mother... "It might be possible, Kushina." There was the sound of him pecking her with a kiss. "I hope not. But he's been hidden since we found him out, and he's been quiet all these years..."

This bastard...could he be tied to Red Dawn? I'm no police officer, because it's only a theory that means nothing unless proven. Naru put this to the back of her mind for now and focused on washing off remaining ice pieces from the fish in the sink.

Research I did shows Japan along with China is one of the largest consumers of marine life, gaining 7.5 billion tons a year in fish (which is primarily its main food as breakfast, lunch and dinner anytime). A known foreign rival is Scandanavia. However, the fact is that the industry is slowly declining. Given this story fits somewhere in the early 2000s, this device is vital to main events.

The information about the yellowtail snapper is from Wiki. I also don't know how much is caught in millions of tons, so it was a best guess.

The ningyo in folklore, unlike Western and Mediterrabean myth, are depicted actually as more hideous than beautiful, for their notable features consist of the following: deformed fish-like features, claws, monkey-like teeth; the closest positive sides could be they have golden scales and a flute's voice, and their famed flesh tasting so could it could give the eater life everlasting (unless they choose to take their own life). However, it wasn't unheard of in terms of ningyo having the attractive upper human body and the fish lower body, claimed to have been spotted in the waters from Japan to the West, during the Edo period.

Since we have our beloved Uchiha and others as these sea creatures, I didn't want to COMPLETELY stick to original lore, but to find a balance between in terms of their appearances.