Good God, today was my dad's birthday, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I am excited. I got this in time before that day. I feel the climax approaching in a few chapters maybe. :D
The first kiss finally happened last time, so now let's see what happens in here...
Chapter Fourteen
Merman's Tears
When he kissed her, his heart burst to life. It was the most beautiful feeling he ever had. It was far more magnificent than just kissing her temple or her cheek even. They were chaste compared to this.
Naru was divine. She was his link to complete the circle.
She was his universe.
That necklace...when he spotted it, Minato could not say no to this treasure. Merfolk who mated gave gifts from the sea to each other before the final coupling of the ritual. He told the father of the woman he loved that his people would do this for the ones they genuinely cared for. First sight is infinite, the one you know in front of you for life - and if another tried to take them apart, you fight with your last breath.
When he was finished speaking, Minato's eyes glazed.
Kushina was let in as well, and she let him carry on the plan easily! It thrilled Itachi to know that they were both encouraging him. And tonight - it was fun and different from the previous events. Everyone dressed even more finely than before. Hiashi Hyuuga - he seemed...decent. His facial expressions made him think about his own father - but what made him equally happy was that he recognized him and even went far to make a joke about setting him up with his own daughter, Hinata. Thank Naru for rescuing him, even though it was just banter.
Hinata and her younger sister, Hanabi, were the ones to make the marvelous drinks he and his lady had. This party - it was meant to raise money for the business, but it was also for everyone to enjoy each other's company. Both of Hiashi's daughters were marvelous hostesses - although he could tell that Hanabi was a bit of a troublemaker unlike her sister. He wondered why in heaven's name her father considered her better than Hinata.
This was his chance to be alone with Naru to give her the locket. Such things existed beneath the sea, but you didn't find them every day. Most of the times, humans lost them, and their name came in when there was a small lock without trouble, and inside you found the face of the one most treasured to you. Seeing this one with Minato's help, and he knew it was for Naru.
When he broke the kiss, he noted how her lips became dark and swollen, almost as pink as her cheeks were now. This was all he needed to know that she started to fall under his spell.
"Itachi...I..." She never got to finish when a voice called after them, and it was none other than Hanabi, which made her a little annoyed. "Oh, the little rat. It's like her to interrupt a good moment like this."
Good moment...
"Don't worry about us, Hanabi," he called calmly and sweetly to the girl who poked her head around the corner, eyes twinkling. "There is nothing worth worrying over on your father's property. We will join." That was enough for her, for she was gone in seconds.
Naru looked up at him, unable to speak, and the locket shining around her neck. He just hoped she would never take it off. At home, a gift like that was meant to be treasured always and never removed for any reason. Itachi leaned down again to kiss her, but it lasted maybe a second. Tonight had been nothing short of magical for him - but tomorrow, what would she tell him?
The rest of the evening regarded Hiashi gathering everyone for a toast to the success, and a thanks to Kushina and her daughter - and him - for what they did only a couple days ago, and the people cheered them. Itachi felt utterly pleased, even more with Naru right beside him, gazing up at him with pure admiration. He was aware her parents and others were also watching him the same way, but nothing mattered except her.
If there was anything else that mattered in life, none of it would be worthwhile without her.
When the festivity was over, Naru couldn't stop looking at him in the back of the car - and then she reached and took his hand into hers! His skin was on fire because of her and no one else.
"Oh, these things - I keep forgetting how fun but so tiring they are!" Kushina yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. Minato chuckled and parked the car, all of them getting out. Inside, Kurama barked and whimpered, wagging his tail and jumping on them all, whining and begging for attention. The little beast really loved his company more than day one. He licked Itachi's face like there was no tomorrow, and he considered him part of the family now.
He was excited and nervous about tomorrow. After that would be the final day. Maybe she'll finally say she loves me, but if she doesn't make the first move, it's up to me.
This was also his chance to head down to the dock as promised. The hour wasn't that late, but Shisui and Sasuke - and his mother - were waiting for him. Both his brother and cousin were smiling and waved at him, but to see Mikoto after all this time...
She was able to swim, but she was held in place by her youngest son. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw her eldest with human legs. Those irises deepened with sorrow, knowing how this happened. "Itachi..." she whispered in despair. "All this time...for a human? That human you saved? And dealing with that monster." It was a terrible leap to mention Orochimaru, and her heart seemed to break even more. She lowered her face and wept breathlessly.
"Yes, Mother," he answered, bowing his head as a sign of shame, but while he regretted immensely the pain he put her through... "But I love her, and I have utter faith that this sacrifice I made was worth it. I love her the same way that I know you loved Father." Even when you knew what kind of man he was.
Tears fell down her cheeks and hit the water. "...I already knew, Itachi," she whispered, then disengaged herself to swim towards the wood where he was now sitting. She folded her arms beneath herself to use as a pillow for her head. "But, angel, will you promise me something?"
"Anything, Mother," he answered, leaning over and putting both his hands on hers. He'd missed her so much that he didn't want to leave her alone. He wished she could be here on shore just so she could meet Naru, see that she had every right to believe he'd made the right choice...
"Just never forget us, and if you know you must...tell her the truth."
~o~
Days in Konoha, laying low and disguising himself as a simple worker in the fish processing factories on land, and this was what he had been reduced to. Konan was the same, and neither of them were in the best of moods, although she took it much more calmly than he for both their sakes.
His crew: gone. They came for a portion of what he promised them, and yet they were sacrificed for the punishment of legend in catching the beast.
His ship: at the bottom of the ocean. They had gotten so close to turning that damned half-fish into food for them, but the storm unexpectedly wrecked their ship. He wasn't surprised that Jiraiya, Minato and others had caught on but never found him. And from what he heard, their girl was safe and sound. He considered taking her at first opportunity, but each time he saw her, she was surrounded with those friends of hers, then her parents - and this young man with long black hair tied behind his head. Was he her boyfriend or something? Pain never saw him before, but something in his gut insisted he not do something he would regret.
The greatest regret was taking Naru in the first place. It was all on him, but it did get him and his men what they wanted - only for it all to be over as told in the stories. But perhaps it could still work if he and Konan went out in the waters on their own to fish out the location, but after the incident a week ago, it seemed unlikely. But at least they knew the spot.
Only Konan seemed more...hesitant now. He was furious; was she considering backing out after all they had endured over the years?
He considered asking her this while they were on the waters during an early afternoon, on a fishing craft that he had to kill its previous owner to acquire for them. But before he could do that, something burst from the water and offered a wriggling yellowtail snapper in their direction. Konan gasped and held onto the railing as she looked at the gray-white, marble arm that raised itself over the edge of the deck. The fish was dropped there, and then it was followed by a HUNDRED others. "Yahiko, what is going on?!"
He never answered her because another had - charming and slithering. "It's a gift I thought I would grab from my end, before you refuse what I have to offer you...Pain." A head appeared over the deck, and a body hoisted itself to sit upright as a pair of slitted yellow eyes glittered within an angular, pale face framed by long, wet black hair, and the lower body a dark gray tailfin, the flaps and spikes along the back of the being's spine lighter silver, and the highlights of the scales purple. Pain's breath hitched.
A ningyo - I know it is. But this one is a combination of human and the legends...I never thought I would see one different than the one the crew snatched before its demise.
And it spoke...it said it had something to offer him. He was tempted to accept, but he had to know - "Who are you, and what would be in it for us?" Konan stayed beside him, narrowing her eyes as she also believed this too good to be true.
The being chuckled and crawled further on deck, still upright, thin-lipped smile unsettling to any lesser being, but he wasn't intimidated. "We both want the same thing, my friend - Yahiko. Oh, I know everything about you, and what your deepest desires are..."
"Yahiko," Konan hissed into his ear. "I don't feel right about this. It sounds too easy to accept. No creature of myth would willingly give what they have to a mortal without a price." Pain looked at her from the corner of his eye, considering this with care. He did agree with her, but he was also positive the payment would be worth it.
"I assure you, my dear, I have my ways to make the dream a reality. I have conducted means beneath the waters that my people considered 'unorthodox', but someday they will be a great breakthrough to humanity," the snake-like being told her, that smile never leaving. "The girl you sought as bait - I have been watching her as well, but she is not the only burden in your way. Surely you have seen a certain handsome young man in her presence..." Yes, the lad. But how important is he to you?
Naru Uzumaki and those in her life were all in his way, so could this boy this creature was talking about be another obstacle? He would love nothing more than to eliminate them both if push came to shove. "If you offer me what I seek, what do you wish in return?"
The smile could very much be called permanent. The being slid backwards until he reached the edge of the deck, but he and Konan acted on impulse and rushed his way, desperate to not let it get away before they got what they spilled blood, sweat and tears for. "Oh, don't worry, I will hold my end of the bargain, but today is not the day. Tomorrow would suffice," the merman promised, his body all the way out, but he held onto the bars of the railing. "By sunset. That is when my plan will be in motion, and you will get what you seek." Yellow eyes glittered again.
"I shall meet you on these waters by then." With that, he released the bars and splashed back into the sea. With a furious shout, Pain threw himself forward and stared at the spreading rings in the waters where the creature disappeared. He was even more frustrated that he had to wait another day, but tried to assure himself that it would come.
He didn't even know that monster, but its velvety tongue somehow assured him that the promise would be kept - except Konan remained ever skeptical.
"I don't like this, Yahiko."
He sighed and put his hand atop hers when it rested on his arm. "Neither do I, but the chance has come. We will not let it be for nothing." And when he got that power, he would start with this town that tried to stop him, and then move back out to the other lands, saving home for last.
~o~
"Here. Even if I wound up not being with you, you can keep this on your being at all times."
She wasn't able to stop thinking about that kiss - so sudden, so trusting, tender...and she even dreamed about it. She couldn't think about anything throughout the morning that even Kushina had actually boxed her in the head to get her to pay attention in the kitchen!
Poor Minato's face when he watched the scene at the table. And Itachi was there, too, and that glitter in his eyes - it was as if he was happy with what he knew he did to her. But he didn't yet speak to her about it. In fact, neither of them talked about it since last night. I think we don't know how to. I want to ask Mom - She flinched and rubbed the spot in the back of her head where it was still throbbing. - ow, after I put an ice pack and heal my head.
This was also the first time Itachi really saw a punch like that directed from mother to daughter - and it was also Naru's first time seeing him look troubled by such an action.
"Well, I'm going to meet up with Kakashi and Jiraiya for lunch. Guys to guys," Minato joked, kissing his wife and daughter each on the cheek, then turning to give Itachi a wink. He was really the most trusting dad ever!
Naru watched him go while reaching to finger the locket still around her neck. It was still new, so she didn't get the chance to put Itachi's picture in it. Her mind was still fuzzy after last night, except it was also even more crystal clear than it ever was. But was this really what love felt like at her age? Somehow it was the same when you were a teenager. That was why she wanted to talk to her mother.
Itachi left them alone then, announcing he would go to the living room to enjoy a movie, but now that she was alone, Naru felt her face turn red a hundred times more. "Oh, Naru, I know that look on your face anytime," Kushina told her, gently patting the place where she'd struck her, making her flinch harder at the throb and making her mother tsk. "Come on, admit it: you're in love with him. Why else would you not take that thing off?"
"I just don't know what to do, Mom," Naru said, reaching to finger it. "He's...he is the first guy to treat me like this. How long has it been - almost a week?" Yet it didn't even feel like that...
"And then the same night, he kisses you like in a classic love story," Kushina told her, eyes flashing. "He was much braver than your father was with me. I remember when he left me those flowers the day he tried to tell me he had feelings for me. Didn't have it in him to say those three words the way a girl would expect. "
The delicate pink Asiatic lilies, romantic red roses and lemon leaves? Who could forget a gesture that had been done through the ages? "Yeah, but Itachi did something that's not typical," she answered, looking in the direction he'd gone, where she heard a movie playing, and from the little bit, she recognized it as Titanic - oh, gods, he's in for tears with that one.
"Then that means he won't admit it so soon, but he feels something for you. It was his way of showing it without words. It's hard today to know love staring you in the face, even in a week's time, a month - it doesn't matter. It comes in every form."
Naru rolled her eyes. "You sound cliché, Mama." She hardly used that title since she was a kid. Kushina returned the eye roll.
"Cliché does mean traditional and nothing new, meaning it will NEVER change."
Which meant that her mom might be right that Itachi was too afraid to tell her he was in love with her. Her heart started to beat, but it was mostly out of anxiety, with a small hint of a little girl's enthralled innocence. How was she going to explain this to him? As far as she was concerned, she wanted to tread these waters carefully before going too deep.
~o~
The movie was a distraction from last night, but even then - in sleep, in waking hours and now - he could never stop thinking about his mother's words.
"Just never forget us, and if you know you must...tell her the truth."
Easier said than done, Mother.
How could he tell Naru he was really a merman - and what was more, the only way he got to be on land with her was based on a deal with a devil of the sea? She might as well reject him, break his heart and send him back into the monster's clutches, and all had been for nothing. Tomorrow was the last day, so that would be his chance. If he told her that he both loved her and sacrificed his tail - and his soul - to be with her, then would that make it better?
His racing mind was at ease when she came to sit beside him and watch the movie that he picked. She had said it was one of the greatest love stories ever told, inspired by the true events of the doomed Titanic which was still at the bottom of the ocean, taking fifteen hundred people down with it. But what was central was the young lovers from different worlds - a rich girl and poor boy - whose passionate affair became a race for survival.
It amazed Itachi that the poor little wealthy girl never thought the world could be so much more than the one she'd grown up in. And if she hadn't broken free from the binds of society, she never would have found her identity and died with her accomplishments - and then reunited with her lover in the afterlife, and the others who perished aboard the luxury ship.
Itachi closed his eyes, but even that didn't stop the flood of tears and throbbing in his throat. The story was...beautifully sad. His heart had been full only to be broken by the end. But Naru told him, through tears of her own, that the heart was never broken that easily. Nothing in life ever had one direction...
...and did that mean...
No. Don't think about her like this. I can tell her, today or tomorrow...
He didn't realize he had stood up from the couch and began running, out the door and for the dock again. He fell to his knees and bowed over the edge, his tears returning and falling into the water as he began to sing again in his home tongue.
You are not bound to loss and silence,
For you are not bound to the circles of this world.
All things must pass away,
All life is doomed to fade...
Sorrowing you must go,
and yet you are not without hope.
"You know, you coming down here just to sing makes me think about those movies," Naru called after him, laughing. "I never saw anyone worked up over a dumb TV image in a long time. You're really something, Itachi Uchiha."
Laughing, swallowing his sobs and accepting tissues from her, Itachi wiped his face and crumpled them. "I'm sorry, Naru. Males shouldn't shed tears - but that picture...I never knew love could be broken that easily." With Rose letting go of her lover's hand and letting him sink to the bottom of the ocean where the ship is, then to go on with her life as he made her promise, so that one day she would throw in the blue diamond shaped like a heart into the same ocean spot...and then to reunite with him years later into the next life.
True love really does succeed in different forms.
Naru was leaning up to him, her mouth close enough to kiss him, her sweet breath on his skin. "I don't think it's broken as easily as most think these days. My mom and dad are an example. Love takes a lot of work, and it's usually worth it in the end."
"Naru, I -"
He was interrupted harshly by a splash of water on them both, followed by the dock shaking, and it wasn't long before they were both falling into the water.
Now, who did that? Sasuke, Shisui - neither of you -! He threw his head up and gasped for air. Sometimes he missed being a merman, and he could have shown her his world...
Naru screeched after she brought her head up to the surface. "Damn it, who could have done that?!" she yelped, looking up at him. She shook her head and splashed water drops onto his face.
"I wish I knew!" he responded, and they both shared a laugh, both supporting themselves onto each other, but then he clumsily found his way underwater; she had pulled them both down. He panicked. What was she doing, trying to drown them now?
But he could see her as clearly as he saw her above the surface. Her long golden hair was flaring out behind her as she looked at him with a grin. This seemed like fun to her now. Well, he was going to humor her by reaching behind him and pulling his hair from its tie so she could see him like this, too. And a kiss underwater? He was happy to lay one on her, but she read his mind and leaned forward to do just that to him, unable to speak words, but the action was enough.
What neither saw were the eel-like and red-tailed forms of two certain hybrids that served the one he bargained with to get into the arms of this woman laying her lips on his.
~o~
He had been watching them all this time, enthused by the show but also disgusted. To know that the human heart was so fragile, easily severed. Merfolk were singlehandedly glued to their own kind since the centuries past, and only a few ever fell in love with a human...but in each case, it never ended well.
"Itachi Uchiha, you truly are a fool. You thought that it would end as your delicate heart believes. Well, tomorrow is the day it all ends for you." And with help of that foolish human who thinks that he can have my power without thinking that I have the upper hand - he should have accepted with the last incident that it isn't meant for him...
But I am impressed humans can persevere as we can.
Chuckling, Orochimaru entertained himself as he watched Sakon/Ukon and Tayuya shake the deck to prevent the declaration of love. He always knew that the human wouldn't be able to profess as easily as Itachi would. He looked forward for tomorrow at sundown...
In the entrance of his lair, the poor, unfortunate souls continued to wail their despair, pleading for help that never came. By the sunset, Itachi would join them for the final step.
The song Itachi sung on the dock (a second time he does this, as it became a favorite thing of his) was "Breath of Life" from the soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. It was the moment when Aragorn is washed ashore and on the brink of death...but his star-crossed love Arwen the elf princess breathes life back into him even from far away. This is the English translation.
I rewatched Titanic recently, and it still gets me after all these years - and I even own a replica of the Heart of the Ocean diamond. :') To imagine that Itachi would break down seeing it just as he tries to think about how he should tell Naru he loves her...