The Little Dolphin

The un-disneyfied version of the 'Little Mermaid' that has been Narutarded.

Rated: PG13 for language and violence in later chapters. As well as some innuendos and SUGGESTED sexual preferences.

Disclaimer: Yeeeeeeaaah... nothing is owned by me. NOTHING.

Again, the italicized words are STILL in Latin. There's a decent sized chunk of it at the end.


- Chapter 2 -

After then, but before the now.

- six years pass -

"NO!!"

"Look Iruka, you can't go back there!"

"I have to! I'm a ninja of Konoha! I have to help them!" He struggled in vain against the ninja holding him back. "I have to protect the village!!"

"You're still just a genin! It's too dangerous for you now!" The nin clutched the struggling dolphin harder. "The Kyuubi is destroying all in its path! We need experienced Nin on this one!" He set the boy down and shook him violently. "The best help you can give is to stay here!"

"LIKE HECK I WILL!" Iruka tore out of the nin's grip and shot off down the path, pulling out kunai as he went.

"No! IRUKA!!" The nin was about to give chase when he was instantly killed by a falling tree. The Kyuubi's rage spared no one.

Iruka ran hard and fast. His feet were bleeding every step of the way, but he didn't care. He was getting scratched and hit by debris, but he didn't care. As long as he found his parents, as long as he was there to protect them, everything would be fine. Right? That's how it was supposed to be, right? Dodging left and right, he found himself in a shaded glen. Eyes darting back and forth, he spotted someone.

"Hey!" He ran up to the person. "Hey! Which way is the battle! I need to know!"

The boy turned around. "The battle is almost over."

Iruka was surprised. This kid was about the same age he was, but had silver hair! A strange, unrecognizable feeling stirred inside him. Upon closer inspection, the boy wore a mask and an ANBU uniform. But that couldn't be possible right? No kid this young could ever be an ANBU right??

He brushed off the strange feeling this guy stirred up. "What do you mean?? You couldn't possibly know that!" Iruka was becoming a bit pissed. Who did this guy think he was? An ANBU? "You aren't much older than I am!"

The boy shook his head and held up an ID card. It read: Kakashi, Hatake; ANBU; age 13. Well, that's a bit of a shock…

Iruka shook his head. "Never mind! I need to find where everyone is fighting!"

Kakashi smirked under the mask. "First tell me you're sorry."

"What??"

"Tell me you're sorry for misjudging my appearance."

"I don't have time for this! I have to…"

"Say it or I'll have to take you back to the village." He pulled out a kunai. "Incapacitated or otherwise."

Iruka gritted his teeth. He figured this guy was bluffing. No shinobi from Konoha would hurt another shinobi from Konoha right? Yet, this guy seemed like he wouldn't tell him where the fighting was unless he apologized. Iruka quickly dropped into a formal bow.

"Forgive my ignorance, Kakashi-sensei."

"That's better." He replaced the kunai and pointed. "Head that way. When you come to a large wasted area with lots of dead people, you're there." (BLUNT)

"Ah! Thank you Kakashi-san!" Iruka sprinted off in the direction that Kakashi had pointed.

When he was gone, Kakashi shook his head. "What a fool." He looked around the glen and was surprised to find a trail of bloody footprints heading off in the direction the boy had gone. That kid was already bleeding? He didn't have a scratch on him when he was here. Kakashi mused to himself. Could it be that he was hiding an even more serious wound underneath his clothing? Kakashi quickly disregarded that idea. He was taught to look underneath the underneath and nothing indicated a severe wound. Yet, there were bloody footprints in the glen. Kakashi felt the irresistible urge to investigate. So, the young ANBU followed Iruka.

--

By the time Iruka got to the battlefield, the battle was indeed over. The Fourth Hokage had sacrificed himself to bind the Kyuubi, but none of this mattered to Iruka at the moment. He dashed over to a group of medic nins who scurried from body to body, looking for survivors.

"Where are Mr. and Mrs. Umino? I must speak with them!" The medic nins simply ignored him as the continued to check for vital signs. "Please! Someone tell me where they are!" One kunoichi had compassion for the boy and turned away from the body for a moment.

"I believe they are over there." She pointed to a group of nins laying white sheets over dead bodies of identified victims.

"Arigato!!" He darted over to the group of ninjas. "Is Mr. or Mrs. Umino here?"

One of the nins, with quite a large gash across his face gestured toward a pair of motionless figures. "There." He said quite gruffly.

Iruka's hopeful face turned to that of confusion. "What?" He looked over at the cloth covered figures. "That's not them. They're around helping the medic nins right?"

The man's fearsome countenance softened. "No kid. They're right there."

"No... no it can't be." Iruka shook his head in denial. "They're alive."

"I'm sorry kid, but that's the way it is."

"No... No you're wrong!" Iruka backed up a few paces, tears leaking from a scared and angry face. "You're lying to me!"

"I'm not lying to you, kid. See for yourself." The man ripped back the sheet.

Iruka screamed. It was the kind of scream that shouts to the world that your heart has just been ripped in two. It was the scream of ultimate suffering. For there, lying together in a bloody heap on the ground, were his parents. He fell to his knees as the world he knew collapsed on top of him.

"I'm sorry kid."

"No…no…." Iruka murmured shakily. The tears were flowing freely from his eyes. "No I... I….can't..."

"You okay there kid?" He reached a hand over to shake Iruka's shoulder, but Iruka wasn't there anymore. There were only bloody footprints.

Kakashi, however, watched the whole scene from a tree on the edge of the field. He guessed that those dead were Iruka's parents. Poor kid, a shinobi needs to learn to cope with loss.He remembered pain over his own loss and ceased to follow Iruka. Then, burying his emotions where they could not be touched, he leapt off in search of his partner, Obito.

--

Iruka ran.

Where? He didn't know. To be honest, he didn't really care.

He ran. He ran till his feet were blue, bloody, and raw. He ran and ran and ran. He ran until nightfall when the moon was high in the sky. He ran until he reached a cliff about 40 miles away that overlooked the sea. Tears of grief were streaming from his clenched eyes all the way.

He climbed to the very tip-top of the cliff. High above the crashing waves, he watched through bleary, watery eyes as the ocean beat upon the shore. It didn't matter that he was exhausted. It didn't matter that he was a billion miles from home. Misery and hopelessness blotted out everything Iruka knew.

Standing there, in the darkness of the night, he cried out to the moon.

"Quianam O Stella Lunarius?!. (Why oh moon?) Quiane meus sinus discerpo? (Why does my heart break so?) Quare mis unde tos mortuus modo cum unde potissimum? (Why must they be dead now when I need them the most?)" He used a language he didn't know he knew. A language long lost to the earth. A language that he thought was simply nonsense. But, at this moment, it seemed like no other words could cut it.

It was here that he considered jumping. It was here that he considered ending his life. At this exact moment, there was a terrible darkness and a brilliant intervention. It was here that he met her.

A hand placed itself on his shoulder. Whirling around, he faced the most beautiful person he had ever seen. "Bona conticinium Iruka. (Good evening Iruka)" The person spoke softly.

"Who… Hac tui aetherius volucris? (Who are you oh heavenly one?)" He asked nervously, continuing to use the strange language. Why could Iruka understand her when he could not understand himself? His stare turned to her hand on his shoulder. "Quid ita tu desino meus fatum? (Why do you stay that which is my fate?)"

"No fiendo tui fatum carus unus. (For it is not your fate dear one.) Por tu aspicio, I ut tus vere genetix. (For you see, I am your true mother.)"

"Meus… meus vere genetix? (My… my true mother?)"

"Tu est meus filius. Regenero en meus luminarium. Creatura de pelagus. (You are my son. Re-born in my light. The dolphin of the sea.)"

"Qui ea sum? I homo hominis oriundus de homo hominis. (How can that be? I am human born by humans.) Praeter, meus matris et patris iaceo! (Besides, my mother and father lie dead!)" As he said it, he felt a sorrow renewed inside him. "Qui at tu noro me?! (How can you know me?!)"

"Nam I donatus tu illic insignio. (For I gave you that mark.)" She pointed to the scar across his nose.

He felt a strong resonance from deep within his being. He knew she told the truth. Somehow he just knew that she was his mother. Yet, he still had feelings of sorrow, bitterness, and anger. "Quiane tu non curo me? (Then why did you not care for me?)" He glared at her angrily. "Quiane tu promitto sibimet amo me? (Why did you let them love me?) Quiane tu aufero sibimet? (Why did you take them away?)" He clenched his fists together. "Cur est tu reduco me?! (Why did you bring me back?!)" He froze. Where in the world had that come from?

Moon frowned in sadness. "Tu decerno desiderium iilic? (Do you regret that?)"

"I…" He stuttered. He did not have the words to respond. The language had left him bereft.

She spoke normally, "So you do not truly remember then." She sighed and ran a hand through her shining white hair. "We'll have to fix that then." She placed a lily-white finger on the scar that ran across the very startled Iruka's nose. "Hic nota commemoro tu nostra competentia (This mark is to remind you of our agreement) ut tu mos ne alieno meus enim est tu (So that you will not forget my love for you)."

Iruka's eyes widened. Memories of years gone by flooded his senses. He remembered it all. The joy of being in the arms of his beloved, the pain of each transformation, the love of the moon and his friends, the freedom of the sea, the way he could jump and leap through the waves, the grand hunting of salmon in the pacific with his clan, the marketplace beside the sea, his parents, his friends now dead and gone.

All of this returned to his mind in a flash. He slowly fell to his knees. All the reasons why he felt so strange on land and why his feet kept bleeding came to him instantly. All those scattered memories, all those restless questions were finally answered. He realized that he was probably one of the most interesting people you'd ever meet. He was certainly not like the other children. Thoughts of the other children, thoughts of his parents, and the pain of their loss awakened once again inside him.

"Qui… (Why…)" He managed after a long silence, "Qui est tu reduco me? (Why did you bring me back?)"

The moon sighed. "Quia I iuro tu promissio. (Because I made you a promise.)" She turned and faced the ocean. "Et I intendo contineo meus promissio (And I intend to keep my promise)."

"Quianam tu promitto ea accido?! (Then why did you let this happen?!)" He shook his head in anger and sadness. "Qui tu promitto illic morior? Qui tu promitto me assuesco illic?? (Why did you let them die? Why did you let me grow attached to them??)" He stood up and shouted at her. "Quia tu promitto me persentio hac?? (Why are you letting me feel this way??)"

He stopped shouting and stared at her. She was weeping. "Que- (Wha-)"

"Tripudio a me, Iruka. (Dance with me, Iruka.) Tripido a me velut nos soleo. (Dance with me like we used to.) Tripido, y amitto tui effusion defluo. (Dance, and let your emotions flow free.)"

Bewildered, he watched as her size shrank to his and she began to sway. Her swaying turned to vibrant movement as the tears flowed freely from her tightly shut eyes. He was swept up in the movement of the dance. He copied her movements as well as he could, but something was happening. Iruka becoming overwhelmed by emotion and couldn't express it. The emotions hampered his movements and they became flawed. He stopped and watched her for a moment, then tried again.

He slipped and fell. Each time he tried to dance, he fell. The lady kept dancing rhythmically, and Iruka kept trying to match her, but his emotions wouldn't let him move. Frustrated, he sat down hard on the ground.

When he sat, she paused and opened her eyes. "You aren't listening are you?" she said softly, almost mournfully in the normal language. Then she continued to dance. The odd pattern was growing slower and faster almost simultaneously.

Iruka was befuddled. Listening? To what? He cocked his head. Nothing. Disheartened, he watched the beautiful dance go on and on. After a while he listened to the tapping of footsteps upon the cliff. It seemed as though the beat of the dance was in tune to some sort of song. He listened closely to the sound of her movement. It was like it was saying something… but what? He began watching closely, listening to the rapid foot beats of the dance. It.. the dance… it was… crying?

He couldn't believe it! The dance itself was crying. There was a low, lilting melody, hidden in the steps and beat of the dance. It sang out to his innermost self and told of its pain. His feelings of pain, of sorrow, responded with their own cry. Iruka's song resounded within him, only this was more panicked and faster than the original.

He rose to his feet, listening to the songs. It created a strange, breathtaking harmony that just called for movement, for expression. He slowly began to move in time to it, then faster and faster. His movements were perfect, graceful, but he only made it up as he went. It was like Iruka had practiced this dance a million times he was that good.

As he flowed with the motion-melody of the song, his emotions, his sadness and pain, came out. The more the song went on, the more he released those pent up feelings, the more complicated the movements became. Each gesture was more erratic than the last. It was a dance that complimented the woman's movement and, in a strange way, it's own. He shut his eyes tightly and screamed out his pain in the dance of blood.

This ancient dance was the one that mourners 1000 years ago used when words could not describe what they were feeling. It was re-awakened inside Iruka, and it nearly exploded out of him. Flipping, spinning, and flying through the air, he worked himself to exhaustion. Iruka didn't even notice that the woman had stopped to watch him.

Finally, Iruka sank to his knees in the middle of an intricate ballet step that he didn't know he knew. Completely spent, he wept tears of release. His pain? Gone. His sorrow? Still there, but a whole lot less. It was a good sorrow. The sorrow of remembrance.

And there was a feeling in place of his pain. A feeling that felt a lot like love and hope squashed together. It felt… good. Wonderful even.

He turned towards the woman and smiled. In his smile were unspoken feelings of infinite gratitude, genuine love and affection, and a kind of understanding that no words could describe. This is the smile that he will carry throughout his life. Iruka's secret smile.

She returned the smile 10 fold and knelt beside him. "You remember now. This is good." She slowly returned to her full size and lifted him up. She did not use the strange language for she knew that Iruka was too weak to comprehend it at the moment. "You are needed back at the village, they will be looking for you."

He vaguely wondered who would ever look for him. He looked up at her. "And my fate?"

"That is for me to know and you to find out."

"Awwwwww.."

She chuckled and laid a finger on his scar. "Now rest, there is much to do in the coming days."

"But I.."

"Don't worry about your village. They'll be fine without you." Strange warmth spread from her finger to his entire body. As the scene around Iruka faded into the pure oblivion that is sleep, he heard her voice. "Vos praestolatio, meus dulcis Iruka. (I'll be waiting, my sweet Iruka.)"


So yeah. That be my longish second chapter. -wipe my brow- That was hard. I had writer's block there for a while. I was all like, 'WHAT DO I DO NOW??' But then it was all like... 'wooooaaah... parent... death. saaaaaaaad. ;;'

Oh, sorry if the Latin is a bit overkilled in this one. I went kinda crazy from all the good reviews. (THANK YOU VERYVERYMUCH!) Next chapter will probably be whenever I can find some free time to type it up.

Read and Review! Flame if ya have to! :3