Title: Of Sea and Land
Author: SirenM
Category: Adventure/Humor/Romance
Keywords: Iruka, Naruto with fish tails. Snicker
Rating: Gen for now PG-13 later when Oro comes out.
Spoilers: NONE. It's an AU.
Summary: Naruto plays the role of the Little Mermaid with a twist. Just kidding. It follows the beginning of Little Mermaid but changes from the moment Naruto rescues the Prince. For every little action, there is a series of results. YAOI
Profile Storyline: The beginning follows the plot of the Little Mermaid. Part of the Naruto crew lives as Mermaids (or is it Mermen?) Naruto is little mermaid with a twist. He didn't fall in love with the prince when he saved the dark haired grumpy royalty. In fact, the only reason why he saved the scowling unpleasant prince is to please his tutor, the kindly Iruka-sensei. (and also to stop him from nagging him about saving a life and what not)
But what was Iruka-sensei doing there? And what's his role in this? Apparently, Iruka-sensei followed Naruto when he went up to shore. And when the ship carrying the royalties of the Sharingan Country sunk because of an unknown power, Iruka and Naruto unknowingly spoils someone's painstaking plans by saving the prince and his bodyguard.
From this point onward, the story is of a totally different plot.
After the rescue, Naruto and Iruka settles back at the Palace under the Sea but peace is far from reach at a time of impending war be it under the sea or on the land. Iruka is sent out to another country as an envoy to settle a treaty but something happens at the dark country ruled by the dark sea serpent and Iruka has no choice but to flee to land.
There someone saves him and brings him back to the Palace of Konoha where a certain young prince and his tutor/bodyguard is residing.
Naruto comes to picture again soon when he discovers Iruka has disappeared. So what is he to do? How does Hayate-chan comes into this plot?
Warning: YAOI!
Pairings: Iru(with a lot of ppl). Let's see.
OroIru (for the votes going about in the reviews for Flowers for Iruka-sensei)GenIru (same reason though there'll be more scenes for this since there's more votes)
HayaIru (I honestly do not know which one should be seme but what the heck, they're supposed to be engaged or somewhere along the lines)
GenHaya (as the story progressed later on)
KakaIru (DUH! I'm a KakaIru fan after all)
SasuNaru (this pairing is dynamic or should I say dynamite. They literally blow the entire castle up when they have a lover's-tiff)
Main Pairing: KakaIru & SasuNaru
Disclaimer: The characters and world of Naruto was created and owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Honestly, if I owned this would I be writing fanfics?
Author's Note: Mer is short for mermaid or merman. It's like the universal meaning like man for human. It sounds better than way too (to me anyway).
Recently, I saw 'Splash' again. You know, the one about the mermaid. TT.TT Kinda reminds me of how old I'm becoming if I actually remember... ahem. Sorry, I digress. Anyway, if you know that movie, (starred by Tom Hanks) you'll know that the mermaid, Madison, her tail changes to legs when it becomes dry. I'm not going to stick with that concept, nor of the so called classic concept of going to the witch for the potion or something like that. Just so you know. That all the mers here can change when they focus their mind on it. But they can't stay out of the water too long or they turn into dry fish :oD Just kidding. If they stay out too long (more than 10 hours...let's say) their feet hurts. That's the idea I work on, k? Stick with me there.
Yosh, let's get to the story!
Prologue
The sea, in many ways, is a mystery. No one knew what lived in the dark depths of the ocean. No one understood how species thrived underneath the dark murky waters. No one had managed to get a glimpse of these elusive creatures, and so, was thus feared by men. These said creatures; one in particular, lived deep on the sea bed, undisturbed but only by the conflicts of their own kind and unknown by the humans except through countless legends. These timeless myths more often than not portrays them as beautiful irresistible sirens, seducing hapless sailors with their songs, then slaying and devouring them after. These were the mermaids of the sea.
"NARUTO!!!"
A golden blur darted across the sea bed in a rush.
"Naruto! If you don't show yourself right now I am going to..." a pause "NARUTOOOO!!!"
The said gold mer snickered, grinning impishly as his tutor swam past him. When the coast was finally clear, he sneaked out of his hiding place behind a large grey coral rock, glancing left and right before he flicked his golden tail and took off towards the main palace. He had almost managed to get his room before he promptly slammed into one of the guards as he turned a corner. The sentinel grinned at him as the younger mer's big blue eyes widen in recognition.
"NO!"
"Iruka-sensei! The little imp's here!!!" the guard hollered at the top of his lungs.
"Arghh!!! I'll get you for that you stupid catfish!!!"
"It's dogfish, you moron!" Kiba shouted back as Naruto sped towards the door, all thoughts of hiding in his room gone.
"DUMB CATFISH! Some friend you are! TRAITOR!!!" Naruto screamed back as he rounded a corner quickly. "I swear I'll-" and slammed into an unyielding object.
"You'll what, Naruto?" a too calm voice asked.
Naruto swallowed hard before turning to face the silvery mer who was his personal tutor.
"Iruka-sensei... heh heh heh. W... what are you doing here?" Naruto asked in an attempt to look innocent.
Kiba snickered evilly as Iruka blew his top.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT AM I DOING HERE?!!"
Naruto eeped and tried to curl into a ball away from the furious teacher but nothing short of disappearing off the face of the earth or sea could pacify the livid mer.
"NO RESPECT WHAT SO EVER!!! WHAT KIND OF HEIR ARE YOU!?? HOW COULD YOU!?? HOW COULD YOU HAVE DONE THAT TO THE SECOND PRINCE!?? TELL ME!!! HOW COULD YOU!"
"WELL, I WOULDN'T HAVE!" Naruto shouted back. "IF YOU PEOPLE DIDN'T FORCE ME TO MARRY HIM!!!"
"IT"S JUST AN OMIAI! YOU DON'T REALLY HAVE TO MATE WITH THE SECOND PRINCE IF YOU DIDN'T LIKE HIM!"
"FINE! I DON'T LIKE HIM!"
Kiba winced as the two royalties went on a shouting spree that seemed to vibrate through the coral hallways. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him and that he was dispensable, the dog fish mer quickly ducked away before a throwing contest could erupt.
The mermaids of the sea are, in fact, the guardians of the sea. Their responsibilities lie in taking care of the creatures and well being of the ocean. They were gifted with magic to help and guide the lost, to heal the wounded and to give birth to new life. They have no specific genders, possessing the abilities to change their appearance and bodies as they deemed needed. Most often that not, a majority of them would take upon the male body to help protect their loved ones and their queen and king. And then when it is regarded the appropriate time, that is their bonding with another of their choosing, one of them would assume the bearer of new life.
"WELL, I'M SURE AS HELL THAT I DON'T WANT TO BE THE BEARER!" Naruto roared defiantly.
Golden haired Naruto is the heir of the Golden Sea, the Taikinyou Kingdom. Years ago, the equally golden haired Queen, Tsunade had adopted the mischievous 'sea urchin' a few years after the untimely death of King Dan. Queen Tsunade entitled the golden mer as her heir after a mere three years later when he was only 12 winters of age.
Now reaching his 16 birthday soon, the golden mer was a sight to behold. Untidy sun kissed hair float framing a cheeky face inset with the bluest eyes, the colour of the sky. His skin was lightly tanned from constantly disobeying rules by going onto the surface to see the upper world in the daylight sun.
His constant ocher robes were of light periwinkle material, woven intricately by the soft hands of the mermaids with slivers of the sun shimmering upon the surface of the sea. It was draped across his shoulders, secured at the waist by a sash of the same material. The three quarter sleeves and ends of the robes reached only to his hips before it seemingly disappears into its surrounding at the ends of the threads.
If one was to lower eyes to the said hips, one would see that what should have been legs on humans was a long slim golden tail, which shone and sparkled when rays of light reflect on the amber scales.
Despite his golden visage, the heir was easily loved by the ones around him not by his appearance but because of his cheerful attitude and eternal grin. Even regardless of the fact that these mers usually suffer because of his mischief. Pranks, which he could never get away with, especially not with Iruka-sensei around. Naruto frequently ended up getting deservingly punished by his dark haired guardian, painfully.
Iruka was a mer with a long silvery grayish blue tail highlighting his unusually tanned skin. Many would call him exotic because of his colouring especially in the Taikinyou. Tan skin was unique to the Golden Sea occupants as they seldom wander off to the surface to be seen in the sunlight. To possess such a dark visage and a dolphin tail only seemed to make him even more unusual. His long dark hair was usually bound to keep away from his face, floating about behind him alluringly.
Like Naruto, Iruka wore light robes but unlike the heir, it was silvery blue that sometimes seemed to shimmer to darker colours. It was weaved from the reflection of moonlight on the sea surface, done on the night of the full moon by the wearer's own skilled hands.
Sometimes, Naruto would find himself amazed by his own tutor's ingenuity.
Commonly, only experienced mers were able to produce something so completely refined and delicate. And these so-called experienced mers were usually, in Naruto's own words, 'ooooolllllldddd'. If ever one had called Iruka-sensei as weird, they'd have hit the nail right on the head (But of course, that also meant that they'll get hit in the head themselves by Naruto for saying so).
It was also widely rumoured that the dolphin mer had traveled and stayed in the upper world for years when he was younger. Often, his protégé would question him of his experiences but he would dodge the queries efficiently. Iruka didn't want to spark the young one's interest too much, not knowing that he had only succeeded in doing so by denying him of answers.
If only, Iruka thought to himself, Naruto wasn't like his younger self, then he would have been much much more easier to look after. Naruto picked at his robes, his adorable still-puppy-fat-padded-despite-his-age-face glowering in resentment. (kawaii! ;o)
"Don't do that," Iruka admonished half heartedly, brushing the gold mer's hand away. "You'll ruin it."
Naruto had once complained that the skimpy robes didn't cover much. Iruka had explained that in actuality, it wasn't designed for concealing but rather, to depict his status as royalty. Only those of royal family would wear 'clothing' as people on the upper world called it. Naruto didn't seem to understand and frankly neither did Iruka.
In the past, status and power had never appealed to the dolphin mer. In the present, the only thing keeping him here was the queen, her heir and his intended. If he had cared any less for them, he would have left to wander. Or rather, he would never have returned.
Back to the present, it had taken an hour before Iruka had finally managed to drag Naruto back to the main hall where Tsunade was brewing red. Then the golden haired Queen had taken her turn in flaying the cheeky brat alive.
"I don't care what you say. You are to go the prince and apologise now!" Tsunade growled threateningly. If it had been any other mer, they would have been quivering in fear but as it was, Naruto stuck his tongue out at her, flipped his shiny golden tail defiantly and swept out of the hall as quick as he could.
"Naruto!"
"BRAT!!!"
Both of the elder mer sighed. As one, the two of them brought their hands up to knead their forehead in an attempt to ease their headaches.
"Tsunade-sama, if you'd allow me," Iruka started cautiously, "Perhaps we should just abandon the plan of engaging Naruto to the prince."
The amber haired Queen slumped onto her throne of sea jewels and sighed. She nodded wearily, still rubbing her temple with her hand.
"Alright," Tsunade replied defeatedly.
"Your Majesty," Iruka said empathically, "It's not that Naruto doesn't understand the implications of his actions or the situation in which we are in, it's just that-"
"I know," the queen interrupted, "the brat knows that bonding with the prince will help us in long run in the coming war. But he also knows that if he is to give up his youth to someone he does not love and vice versa just for political assurance, it will ruin their lives and they would end up hating each other."
Iruka nodded.
"Naruto not intelligent by all means," Tsunade said, the corner of her lips quirking up into a smile, "but he's not stupid either. Who knows. Maybe one day, when the time comes, he may be the one to save us all."
"Aa," Iruka answered, a smile gracing his lips.
"But right now," Tsunade said, getting up from her seat, "Could you make sure the little brat doesn't dump another load of rotting seaweed onto the second prince (1) again or worse."
Sasuke sneered at no one in particular. Which suited the crew very well as no one particularly desired being a target of the dagger like glare.
Sasuke Uchiha was a handsome young man of 16 summers. With fair complexion, dark mysterious eyes and striking features, framed by equally dark hair, many male and female of all ages would be willing to die just win his favour. His body was slim and well built, result of all the practice and training that he had regularly went through, however he was not too overly muscular. All in all, some would consider him the reincarnation of Adonis, only with black hair (no shit about who, coughSakuracough). (2)
He was dressed in a simple royal blue lace shirt, and pants of the same colour, being in the middle of no-where has its advantages. He did not have to wear clothes of royalty and get swamped in all the heavy clothing and cloak where ever he went. But right now, he wasn't in any mood to appreciate his current freedom or surrounding.
Normally, he would have been relieved to get away from it all and would have taken the opportunity to explore the outside world. But right now, the dark hair prince was in a foul mood, worse than his usual. It may stem in the fact that he was several miles away from home, but it wasn't that. If anything, he was glad to be away from the suffocating and tense atmosphere that had become all too common in the Palace of the Royal Uchiha. (3)
No, the Prince was in a foul mood because he was sea sick.
And he was getting sicker by the minute.
The ship gave a particularly violent lurch as a huge wave struck against the hull of the vessel. Sasuke gripped the railing tightly and closed his eyes, willing himself not to heave his lunch over the handrail into the sea.
A chuckled was heard and the youngest prince of the Sharingan Kingdom (3) snapped opened his eyes to shoot a glare that promised a painful and gory death at the perpetrator. But unfortunately for Sasuke, the look he aimed at the said man only served to amuse the sadistic bastard that was his personal (tor)mentor.
"Damnit, Kakashi. What the hell do you want?" he should have kept his mouth shut, because he felt his stomach protesting against his action. Sasuke resisted the urge to put his hand on his mouth to stop anything from spewing forth. He didn't want to seem weak in front of his tutor.
"Oh, nothing." Kakashi asked innocently. Then he paused dramatically and said slowly "Are you feeling sick?"
Sasuke glared at Kakashi full force. But the silver haired looked totally unaffected, except merely appearing sleepy.
"Because you look sick." The last word was drawled torturously long, as if to emphasize his point to a mentally challenged child.
Sasuke felt the familiar surge of annoyance whenever his silver haired tutor was being particularly irritating. Under normal circumstances, the dark haired boy would never have fallen into such an obvious trap. When he had first met Kakashi, the first thing that the silver haired man had taught him was never ever to fall in provocation. Evidently, the teen had forgotten about it in favour of snapping at his tutor.
"I am not sick!" But his pale complexion gave his blatant lie away as he turned an interesting shade of green. Clearly, he shouldn't have opened his mouth, because everything seems to want out too.
Kakashi chuckled sadistically over his book as his young ward finally gave way to his urge to surrender what was left of his last meal to the temperamental ocean.
"Well, better out than in, I guess."
Oh, how Sasuke hated him.
Kakashi settled down onto a barrel next to his sick charge who was lying on his back on the deck of the ship. The poor boy had been puking his guts out for the past hour or so and now was too weak to even stand. Someone had given the dark haired prince a wet cloth for him to put on his forehead, in which he had accepted gratefully. With the cloth on his eyes, Sasuke had not notice Kakashi sitting beside him or he would have glared at the silver haired idiot for causing him this discomfort. As it is, the dark haired boy was soon dozing lightly.
Kakashi smirked as he flipped the pages of his adult novel. He kept an eye out for anything peculiar as continued reading, completely impervious to the rocking of the vessel that they were on.
The evening sky was clear, devoid of clouds, as warm sunshine spilled onto the deck and across the faces of the crew. The silver haired man would have hummed to himself as he leaned back to enjoy the peace. Except that something was tingling at the back of his head and wouldn't leave him alone.
Finally, with a muffled sigh, he closed his book and looked out across the horizon. All he could see was the ocean. The volatile unforgiving sea.
Swiftly, an unbidden memory from a past long gone returned to him.
"I saw an Angel that day, Kakashi."
The silver haired teen threw a glance at his best friend, frowning slightly.
His friend chuckled slightly, staring wistfully at the raging ocean.
"Maybe not an angel," he said, shooting a glance at Kakashi's incredulous face. He simply knew the silver haired boy too well. He could read him easily despite his perpetual mask and the fact that Kakashi hadn't even said a thing.
"But," Obito continued, trying to find words to clarify what he had started saying, "She was most beautiful thing I have ever seen."
The masked teen stayed quiet, waiting for his friend to continue.
"When I drowning," the other teen said, "When I thought that I was finally going to die," he continued, closing his eyes in remembrance, "She came. She saved me, Kakashi."
Then, the silver haired man thought to himself bitterly, why didn't the angel save you a second time?
Kakashi didn't believe in heaven or hell, much less beings from above, he only believed in himself.
Notes: Omiai arranged meeting with a possible suitor/future spouse.
Taikinyou rough translation of Large Golden Sea or some where along those lines.
There might some more Japanese names for some places coming out but don't worry, I'll put some notes on what they represent. Please forgive me if my jap is a little rusty and please inform me if I had unintentionally butchered anything.
Originally, I didn't want to add the part where the mers are gifted with the ability to give birth but I found out the other day (in discovery channel or one of the channels anyway) that some fishes have that ability to change gender. And then, I thought it would be a better idea for them to have the same ahem gift.
Alright, the main cast will meet each other in the next chapter, albeit briefly for the first time. Then Iruka has to go and become a little messenger boy ;o) Oh, and also what Kakashi and Sasuke doing sailing far away from home.
(1) Oh, and the so-called second prince doesn't have a name. Originally, I wanted to put Neji but I value my life too much to do that. Maybe, just maybe, there'll be a sequel where he'll belong in heh heh heh.
(2) I'm laughing as I type this, no offense but I really don't favour Sasuke-kun that much. Probably lies in the fact that he's been such a meanie to Naru-kun in the recent episodes. And I don't like Sakura either for that matter. It's funny, I can't hate any of the characters in Naruto, including Oro and Itachi but I really can't stand Sakura. I don't hate her. I just don't like her. I mean, if you have pink hair why would you want to ruin everything by wearing red???! Anyway, I'm not trying to make Sasuke seem weak here, it's just that I like torture him for the heck of it. Heh heh heh. Anyway, he'll get better soon. It's his first time on a ship sailing a long journey. He'll have to get use to the ocean, heh heh heh. Well, he's kinda OOC anyway.
(3) I'm sorry for the lame name but I can't think of any appropriate ones right now. I'm sooo sorry.
And boy, this takes the cake for the longest chapter. Even longer than Secret Lives'. If you've read that, you'd know what I meant. If you haven't, go read.
Anyway, please don't expect the chapters to come out too soon. Because someone keeps complaining that the chapters were too short. Honestly, its getting kinda annoying. Anyway, I try to get the chapters done as fast as possible but its really next to impossible to write long chapters in a week's time especially when you have RL (not Remus Lupin, Real Life) screaming by the side of your ear, demanding that you get to work and yada yada yada, whatever the tut.
Anyway, my estimation of the next chapter will be sometime next month or so. I have to update my wayyyyyyy long due Cursed aka Remus ½ and then Secret Lives. Or maybe not in that order. Oh, what the heck!
Sorry, I had no time to check (and no beta) so this is an unedited version, please tell me if you've spotted any mistake. I'll replace the chapter with a corrected version in the next update. Thanks. ;o)
Sore jya, Isshokenmei ganbarimasu!
SirenM
p.s. Ah, sou da. Otanjoubi Omedetou Gozaimasu, Kaka-kun! ;o) I'd kiss you but I think that you'll much prefer me giving you an Iruka for the belated wishes, heh heh heh.