Title: Love Between Land and Sea

Rating: T – Language (yeah, that is about it)

Pairings: Sakura/Sasuke, Ino/Sasuke

Summary: (AU) Sakura, a mermaid, falls in love with Sasuke, a human. Sacrificing everything she knew to be with him was one thing, but getting him to accept her was another.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. And I do not own the story of the Little Mermaid. Thank-you.

Chapter IV: Coming of Age

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Sakura watched from the shelter of behind a large rock as Sasuke was carried into the building the female two-leggers came from.

"Sakura-chan, why didn't you stay with him?" came Naruto's voice from beside her. "You're the one who saved him, not that female!"

Sakura smiled sadly. "He could have woken up. And if he saw my tail, he would have been afraid," she lied. She was actually frightened of the two-leggers that were closing in on her. Anko and Temari had told her that two-leggers often threw rocks at sea creatures such as them.

Naruto looked skeptical, but accepted her answer. "We'd better get home, I am so tired." He stretched and lunged into the water, as Sakura too followed suit.

She silently questioned if she would be in trouble, after all, she was out all night. She doubted that Hinata could convince everyone where she was for this long. Sakura sighed. She would be in so much trouble.

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Sakura knew her father and grandmother would punish her sooner or later, so she decided later would be better. As soon as she reached the palace when she and Naruto came back, she went straight to her garden and sat with Sasuke. Or at least his statue.

"O-o-oh, Sakura-neechan; y-you're back!" a voice called from behind her. Sakura already knew it was Hinata; the stumbling and shyness of the words gave her away.

"Hinata-neesan, I'm terribly sorry about staying out longer than I said I would. And I'm sorry if I got you in any trouble," Sakura said as she looked down. 'Otou-san and Obaasan probably interrogated her immensely. I can't believe I would put Hinata through that just for my selfish desires!' Sakura mentally beat herself up.

Hinata responded by pulling her younger sister into a light hug. "We were a-all worried about you, Sakura-neechan. I was worried… I was worried you got hurt!" Hinata surprised Sakura with the power of her usually timid voice. "Please…never leave us for that long again. I do-don't know what I'd do if I was the youngest sister… once more."

Sakura would have laughed at her sister's rare sentences with humor in it, but she was too overwhelmed by the serious tone Hinata was using. Sakura just smiled a returned the hug the dark haired girl was giving her. "Never again, Hinata-neesan, never."

"There you are, you little trouble maker!"

The voice broke the entire moment, and turned Sakura's slightly good mood to a bad one. 'Doesn't she have a knack for showing up at the wrong time!' Sakura thought darkly, glaring at Anko, whom had interrupted.

"Otou-sama wants to see you, Sakura. This time, I didn't cover for you," Anko scoffed as she beckoned Sakura inside.

"I'll see you later, Hinata-neesan," Sakura swam towards the door to which Anko came from. "Oh yeah," Sakura said while turning to Hinata. "Naruto-kun was interested in a date with you." And with that Sakura went inside, followed by Anko.

Hinata's face flared up as bright as a red star fish. "N-N-Naruto-kun… a date… wi-with… me?" Hinata was stumbling over her words more than usual. Even though she looked flabbergasted on the outside, Hinata inwardly smiled impishly. "Naruto-kun."

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Sakura was pushed into the throne chamber by Anko. "Otou-sama will see you in a moment, Sakura." And with that, Anko closed the door behind her youngest sister.

Sakura remained directly in front of her father's throne chair, even though he was not filling it. It wasn't until one of the servants popped their head in for a second did she know that her grandmother was coming as well.

"Sakura-hime! Asuma-sama and Tsunade-sama are on their way," the servant relayed the message to Sakura before closing the door once more. It was a useless effort though. The doors opened again but a moment after words.

Her father, Asuma, and Tsunade took their respected seats and watched Sakura immensely.

Sakura felt uncomfortable with the accusing eyes scanning her, but she knew it could not be avoided. She kept a straight face and looked at the empty throne ahead of her; the chair her mother would sit in at this very moment if she were still alive.

"I cannot tell whether to be angry at you or proud," Asuma said as he finally took his eyes off her.

Tsunade noticed the look of confusion on her granddaughter's face and smiled. "We know what you did for that Human boy, Sakura. And what you did took great courage… even if the circumstances were questionable."

"You could have been hurt, Sakura, or worse! Killed!" Asuma bellowed as his loud voice seemingly echoed through Sakura's head.

"Asuma!" Tsunade chided. She then turned back to the petal-haired mermaid and smiled once more. "I think Sakura has proven her age through her deed; she could have easily let that poor boy drown, but Sakura saved him."

'I would never let Sasuke drown!' she mentally shouted. But she felt her heart weigh down with guilt as she remembered all the other two-leggers whom needed her help but she ignored them.

"That is why, my son," Tsunade turned towards Asuma, "I think Sakura should receive her Coming of Age early. Today, in fact."

Sakura's eyes shot towards her grandmother in shock. 'Coming of Age! I'll be able to go to the surface whenever I choose!' Sakura felt her mind erupt in fireworks, but then they seemed to die down when she remembered her father's word was still law.

Asuma thought hard for a few moments but then shrugged. "I'm sure she's ready."

Sakura flung herself at her father and drew him into a tight hug. "Thank-you, Otou-san!" she said as she kissed him on the cheek. She then grappled on to Tsunade. "You, too, Obaasan; thank-you!"

Asuma then stood up from the throne and went to leave the room. "I'll contact the servants and our friends. This will be a celebration beyond anyone's comprehension," he said haughtily. "After all, this will be the last Coming of Age ceremonies for my children." And with that, he disappeared through the door.

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Asuma was not lying when he said the party would be big. Everybody and anybody were at Sakura's Coming of Age celebration.

Sakura could not believe all the people who actually came to her party; stunned was an understatement to what she felt.

She watched as her sisters still took hold of each of their escorts. Anko was accompanied her fiancé, Hatake Kakashi, one of her father's military generals; the escort for Temari was the only man who could probably put up with her and her personality, Nara Shikamaru, probably the laziest, but cleverest, creature in the entire ocean; Tenten came with the thick eye browed merman, Rock Lee, the one man whom often asked Sakura to court him; Kin came with the silver-haired genius, Yakushi Kabuto, whom she knew to be one of Orochimaru's lackeys; and finally came Hinata whom appeared with Naruto, that loud-mouth blonde everyone in the ocean knew.

Before, when Sakura had not received her Coming of Age, she was not allowed to really be with any other males aside from Naruto. Her father had told her it was to keep her name honorable and to keep her untainted until she was married. At first, Sakura did not know what he had meant, but as she grew older and wiser in her years, she figured it out.

Getting away from the party, she retreated to her garden for some peace and quiet. 'I should be happier…Why aren't I?' While in the company of other's she smiled courteously but on the inside her heart ached. 'Why are you doing this to me, Sasuke-kun?'

"How come you're out here all alone, Sakura?"

Sakura jumped at the intrusion of another voice. She turned around and saw the one man who could not wait for her to receive her Coming of Age; Hagane Kotetsu.

'Great…' Sakura inwardly grimaced. She had hoped in the back of her mind that Kotetsu would not be able to come to her Coming of Age, but she knew it was inevitable.

"Good evening, Hagane-san," she tried to say without lacing it with poison; she almost was unsuccessful.

Kotetsu just smirked and swam closer to her. "Why must you be so formal around me, Sakura?"

'Because you're an ass and you're trying to woo me over to marry you, you bastard!"

"Because I shouldn't be rude and be formal with you when I hardly know you, Hagane-san," she said as calmly and nicely as she could.

But then she realized her mistake.

"Then why don't I let you get to know me more," he answered her slyly. And before she knew it, his lips covered hers in a light kiss.

Her body was stiff and frozen; she couldn't break away. All she did was imagine that instead of Kotetsu kissing her, it was Sasuke.

He broke the kiss moments later and gazed into Sakura's eyes. "I will see you another time soon, Sakura," he said before he returned to the grand hall for the party, leaving Sakura alone once more.

'That bastard!' she mentally screamed. 'That kiss was meant for Sasuke-kun!' But weirdly enough, she was not that mad about it as she thought she was. 'Maybe my heart actually believed it was Sasuke-kun kissing me,' she concluded as she unconsciously fingered the symbol of her Coming of Age: the pin.

The pin was made to look like a flower with a rounded jewel at the center. The jewel was often very large and came from the shinning treasures of the two-leggers. Her jewel was a smooth round dark green jewel that brought out her eyes. Her grandmother had called it an emerald.

She took the pin out of her hair and went back inside. But instead of going back to the party, she headed straight for her room and retired for the night.

She immediately plopped down in her bed and closed her eyes, only seeing Sasuke's black eyes staring back at her. She shook her head and tried to rid herself of him in her thoughts, but all in vain.

She was sick of feeling like this: pining over the very thought of him, her heart aching over the presence of him, and her eyes longing for the sight of him.

It was then she decided she had to be with him. She would not be able to live without being by his side, but though she did not want to, she knew that he could not love a mermaid. 'But… he could love another two-legger.'

She then knew what had to be done, and she knew the consequences of the actions she was about to take.

There was only one person who could help her now.

He was infamous throughout the entire ocean as the Sea Witch.

And he was Orochimaru.

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Author's Notes: Phew, done with Chapter 4! Woo! I had trouble figuring out who should be Sakura's dad and at first it was gonna be Sarutobi, but then there was the issue of his age over Tsunade's. Then it was gonna be Dan, but then I remembered Tsunade and Dan were lover's in Naruto, so that was out. That's what mostly took this chapter so long.

Anyway, thanks everyone for your reviews, they get me motivated to keep on writing.

So keep your reviews coming and I'll keep on writing… though I probably will write with or without them anyway… But don't forget to leave a review anyway!