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 VII: A New World

----------

As Naruto promised, he talked to Jiraiya immediately, that very same day actually. And as Naruto had also said, his uncle knew exactly who Sasuke was and where to find him.

"Staying at his summer palace, naturally," Jiraiya had said. "Not too far away actually, maybe a half-hours swim."

Naruto exclaimed when he heard the news. "That means I can visit you, Sakura-chan...in private, of course!"

Sakura returned his bright smile. 'I would like that very much, Naruto-kun.'

Naruto nodded. "Sakura-chan, make sure it is at night, with a moon," he told her, seriously.

Sakura looked slightly confused.

Naruto's signature smile returned. "Reflect the moon's light from your pin to far out into the sea, I will watch for it every night."

----------

She left Jiraiya and Naruto's home in the cloak of darkness. She knew she could not make any mistakes after coming this far.

She passed by her place of birth, the palace. Knowing it was extremely risky, she entered it stealthily, her grandmother's words still ringing in her ear. 'Be discreet.'

She snuck into the room her and her sisters slept in. Quietly, she placed a kiss on each of their brows, careful not to wake them.

She then preceded to do the same to her father and grandmother, only she had to be extra careful. After completing what she intended to do, she left as silently as she came. She left the palace's perimeter and began swimming straight up. She stopped for a moment, to look once more at the seemingly small palace far below. 'Good bye, otou-san, obaasan. Good bye, my sisters, I hope you all live full, long lives. I love you all,' she thought. This was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life; turning away from her family, probably never to see them again. With a heavy heart, she resumed her swimming. She knew that swimming straight up to the surface would normally be stupid, but it was probably the smartest thing, seeing as the checkpoints were probably told to keep a look out for her, since she had been missing since about dawn.

When she broke the surface, she wasted no time, and looked straight up into the sky, looking for the star Jiraiya had told her about. The North Star, he had called it. It was to help her find her way to Sasuke faster.

She found the star, she hoped, and directed herself what she assumed was East and began swimming as fast as she could, just as if her life depended on it. 'Somehow, I think my life will become more difficult after I take this potion…' she thought, looking down at the red liquid, still grasped tightly in her hand. She then began having doubts. If she did not drink the potion, she would never become Human, thus rendering the ultimatum powerless. 'I can live the rest of my life as a mute here in the sea, right?' she thought. But as soon as she thought it, she began mentally abusing her mind. 'No! I cannot have such thoughts. I agreed to everything, and I have to follow through…No matter what,' she thought in a gloomy tone. 'There is a happy side to these events; I will be with my Sasuke-kun.' The thought brought a smile to her face. 'His warm eyes watching over me, his lovely voice talking to me as I intently listen to all he has to say…' she inwardly sighed as she thought of how much she was going to love spending all her time with him.

She then realized she was so close to land. 'I must have been too lost in my own mind.' She looked up further onto the land, and right on the cliffs of the shore was a very tall, stone castle. The bricks it was made out of showed off their grayish lavender color in the light slowly radiating off the far off horizon. 'Wait… light!' she exclaimed, looking back and seeing light barely peaking over the water farther off in the ocean. The draught Orochimaru had given her only would work at sunrise and the potion would only be good for three sunrises, and she knew that her father's guards would find her if she did not drink the potion during this sunrise. 'Shit, shit!' she thought as she doubled her speed for the sandy beach ahead. Around her, the sky was turning a lovely red, hued by oranges and yellows. 'Just like the day I last saw Sasuke-kun,' she reminisced.

When she got close enough to the shore, she rested her tail, and let the waves bring her in. The waves cradled her onto the soft sand and receded back. Hastily, Sakura took out the cork keeping the crimson liquid inside the bottle, and watched and waited for the sunrise to occur. As soon as she felt the sun's warm rays on her, she brought the bottle to her lips and, without hesitation, let the fluid slither down her throat.

At first, she felt nothing, and wondered if Orochimaru had tricked her. But soon she took back the thought as pain coursed through her body, but it was worst in her tail. The emerald scaled tail was going into spasms that Sakura could not even hope to stop. The pain was worse than getting stabbed with a sword, Sakura concluded. It was like being stabbed with hundreds of swords at every part of her body. She closed her eyes to try and make the pain disappear, but she kept seeing white flashes every time her body pulsated with pain. Then the worst pain of all occurred. She was too afraid to open her eyes, but from what she felt, it felt as though her tail was being ripped apart. She opened her mouth to let out a loud scream of pain, but all that came out was air.

----------

Sasuke noticed the sun's rays peaking through the dense forest that surrounded him and his brother. "We've been sparring since four o'clock and it's already past sunrise, Itachi. I think we should stop for now," he called to his brother while he wiped the sweat on his brow.

Itachi nodded and began walking towards his younger sibling. "I think we should be working on your swimming rather than your fighting," Itachi said coolly as he walked past.

Sasuke glared at his brother's retreating back. "And what's that supposed to mean, Itachi?" Sasuke barked, catching up with the older Uchiha. "It wasn't my fault I almost drowned. If anything, you should blame the weather."

Itachi kept quiet and continued walking, ignoring his brother's last statement all together. When the two males reached the cobblestone bridge, they both took a break and sat on the stone walls overlooking the white sand beach below.

Itachi moved his black eyes over the waves, but something lying on the sand caught his eyes. Out of the corner of his eyes, he thought it was driftwood, but upon closer examination, it was a girl. Without a second thought, he began walking further along the wall, reaching the steps, and began his trek down, albeit a little slow.

"Where the hell are you going, now?" Sasuke called to him, still on the bridge, but now leaning against the wall instead of sitting on it.

Itachi stopped and lifted his head to talk. "Look onto the beach," was all he said before continuing.

Sasuke was confused, but proceeded to look onto the shore. And he too saw the girl. Since his eyes were in much better shape than his brother's, he could make out the features of the girl, other than just her gender. She was lying sprawled out on the sand, nude. Sasuke concluded that she must have been thrown overboard of her ship, or her ship sunk, just as his did. It was hard to tell what the bright pink colored stuff was near her head, and Sasuke thought it must have been hair… the color of cherry blossoms. He quickly followed his brother, now curious about the washed up girl.

Itachi was already kneeling beside her by the time Sasuke reached the two. It was true, her hair was pink.

"She's breathing normally, so she must have passed out from something other than breathing in water. Maybe it was from exhaustion," Itachi contemplated.

"Exhaustion from what?" Sasuke inquired as he, too, knelt down next to the unconscious girl.

Itachi smirked. "Swimming."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Sasuke glared back at Itachi's smirk. "Shut up."

Itachi chuckled, but turned his attention back to the girl as she stirred slightly, but still did not awake. "Go get Shizune-san," he commanded to Sasuke.

Sasuke stood up. "Why can't you do it?" he demanded. He hated it when his brother told him to do anything.

"Because I don't trust you alone with the girl, and you seem to have enough energy to take on the steps. Besides, what would the servants think if I came waltzing in with a naked girl in my arms; my clothes are too dirty to wrap her in. So get Shizune-san, and tell her to bring a sheet or blanket," Itachi said as he examined an empty glass bottle next to the girl.

Sasuke glared at his brother but soon complied, and began up the stone steps that led to the castle.

----------

When Sakura opened her eyes at first, her vision was blurry and distorted. She felt so warm and dry. 'Wait… dry?' she thought as she willed her vision to clear. It cleared slowly but surely. She could make out a door further to her right, and some furniture. Light spilled into the room through the glass windows. Sakura looked down and was covered in blankets and on a bed. It was then it finally clicked. 'The potion worked!' she exclaimed, looking under the covers to be met with two peach appendages emerging from her hips rather than a long tail.

Her head snapped up from the covers as the door opened and in walked a female human with short black hair, wearing a modest blue gown with a white apron over it.

"Thank goodness, you're awake!" the young woman said as she stood by the bed. "Itachi-sama and Sasuke-sama found you on the shore. Do you remember how you got there?"

Sakura smiled brightly. 'Sasuke-kun found me, and brought me into his home!'

Shizune was confused by the reaction of the younger girl but smiled anyway. She decided that maybe she did not remember and moved onto another question. "I'm Shizune. Can you tell me your name?"

Sakura nodded and said told the woman her name, but nothing came out. 'Dammit, I forgot!'

Shizune's eyes widened. "Oh my! You must have lost your voice from whatever happened," she said in pity. Then something else popped up. "You can understand me, right?"

Sakura replied with a nod. 'I'm mute, not stupid,' she mentally growled, even though she was smiling on the outside.

"Well, that's better than nothing. Perhaps I can get you a quill, and you can write me your—" but she was cut off by Sakura's shaking of her head. "Oh, I apologize, I sometimes forget most females, even ones of your class aren't taught to write," she said as she folded back the covers and began helping Sakura up.

'My class?' Sakura tried to decipher what she meant as she stumbled a few times as Shizune helped her stand up. She felt embarrassed that Shizune had to assist her in walking, too.

Shizune sensed her confusion. "I can tell you're high-born from the pin in your hair. I must say it beautifully brings out your eyes. Oh and that hair, I've never seen the color in my life. You must be proud of it!"

Sakura blushed slightly.

"Just wait right here, darling. I must go fetch some clothes for you, I'm sure Her Majesty wouldn't mind you borrowing some clothes; you look like you're in the range of her size." And then the woman, Shizune, left Sakura alone.

Sakura looked into the mirror Shizune placed her before, and admired her two legs more.

----------

Shizune was returning to the room with a green gown embroidered at the edges with silver thread. Just as she rounded the corner to the hallway the room was located in, she nearly ran straight into Sasuke. "Oh, Sasuke-sama! I didn't see you there," she apologized as she continued walking.

"Shizune-san," he started and waited for her to stop. When she did, he continued. "Did you learn anything about the girl?"

He heard Shizune sigh and turn around. "Apparently she's a mute and she doesn't know how to write. But thankfully, she can understand what I say to her. I was just going to get her dressed. When I'm done with that, I'll let you and/or Itachi speak with her." Shizune then opened the door to the room, and closed it behind her.

Shizune soon dressed the pink-haired girl into the gown and began properly dressing her hair. "I was beginning to become afraid I was the only woman to have short hair on the continent. Women nowadays seem to favor longer hair. I find it just annoying," the older woman explained to Sakura.

Sakura silently agreed.

"And you're hair is so lovely, I'm jealous. It's the color of newly bloomed cherry blossoms—"

Sakura found her chance to let the woman know her name, she immediately turned around to face Shizune, and placed her hands on her chest.

"Are you all right?" Shizune could not tell what she wanted at first.

Sakura tried her best to clearly mouth the word "name". She then directed her hands toward Shizune and mouthed "Shizune". Then mouthed "name" again and she placed her hands once more on her chest.

"Oh! You're name…is Cherry Blossom?" she asked, puzzled.

Sakura quickly shook her head. She took her hands once more, placed them far apart, and moved them closer together, indicating a shorter word. And mouthed "Sakura" but Shizune did not get the "Sakura" part of it.

"Cherry?"

Sakura shook her head again.

"Blossom?" Shizune asked, unsure of herself.

Sakura inwardly sighed.

"Sakura?"

Sakura's head snapped up and she nodded vigorously and Shizune smiled brightly.

"I can see why your parents gave you such a name. The hair is practically a tell-tale trait," she said as she finished with Sakura's hair. The cherry hair was pulled back into a high pony tail, with two stands hanging from her bangs to hang on either side of her face; framing it. Her pin was placed right where the hair was held up in the pony tail. "You look magnificent."

Sakura agreed as she took in her appearance as it reflected from the mirror. She decided she never looked so beautiful.

Sakura then felt Shizune pulling her toward the door, and the young girl began to stumble once again; her legs still refused to respond to her correctly.

'Stupid legs, work already! I can't look like a fool in front of Sasuke!'

"You still must be disoriented from the shipwreck. Don't worry, just try your best right here, we'll practice a bit for you." Shizune said, letting go of her hand, and walking back to the opposite side of the room. "Now walk towards me, Sakura-san. We'll see how you can go on your own," Shizune instructed.

Talking a deep breath, Sakura moved one foot in front of the other, and began walking slowly, albeit very unstable. She made it to the middle of the room with a lot of stumbling, but only a few falls. 'This is so hard!' Sakura complained as she sighed.

"Almost there, Sakura-san. Just half way to go and you've done well so far," Shizune said, encouragingly.

'Where were you looking then?' Sakura thought glumly, but nonetheless, began walking again. This time, she could admit, she did better. Not so much stumbling, but no falls. Shizune kept moving to different corners of the room for Sakura to walk to, and each time they started again, Sakura got better.

By the time Shizune decided they should stop, Sakura could almost walk like a Human whose been walking all his/her life.

Shizune then beckoned for Sakura to follow her through the door as she opened it. "We've wasted enough time, I'm sure Itachi-sama and Sasuke-sama are eager to see how you are doing."

At the mention of Sasuke's name, Sakura immediately followed Shizune, enthusiastic about finally seeing Sasuke.

----------

Shizune took her to a giant hall, like the one her palace had, only it was much larger. Shizune sat her down at the long wooden table and told her that Sasuke and his brother would be here in a few moments.

She was glad Shizune did not lie to her. Because almost as soon as she left, Sasuke and his brother, she assumed, came in and sat down at the table with her.

It was very quiet for a few moments.

Sasuke was the first one to speak. "So, Shizune-san tells me you're a mute, correct?" he asked, not looking at her at first.

Sakura had a dreamy look on her face as she nodded slowly. 'His voice is so…enticing,' she thought as she stared at his black eyes that were now looking at the table.

"And you're name is Sakura, right?" he asked, now putting his eyes on her to watch her reaction.

She once again nodded and smiled.

"Well, Sakura-san, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want until we locate your family, or such," Sasuke said smiling slightly, trying to be as much of a good host as he could.

Just then a man with long brown hair strode in and whispered something in Itachi's ear.

Itachi got up. "My apologies, Sakura-san, but Hyuuga-san and I have some business to attend to. Sasuke, I wish for you to show the young lady around, so she doesn't get lost when she's alone," Itachi said as he left the room with Neji.

Sasuke got up, and as soon as he did, Sakura followed suit. "Come along, Sakura-san, we'll start with the gardens first. I'm sure you'll love them," he said, trying not to sound uninterested in his given task.

He led her out of the large hall and through many corridors until they reached a wooden door. "Go on," he said, "open it."

And she took the knob, turned it, and opened the door to be greeted by the most beautiful scents she had ever encountered. She was outside once more, but it was strange, it was an enclosed space, but there was no roof over it. 'This is nothing like my garden,' Sakura thought in amazement as she trailed her eyes over all the pastel colored flowers and fruited trees.

As the couple walked the stone trail through the garden, Sasuke was kind enough to explain all the names of the flowers for her, which she was glad for.

But she stopped when he named a particular tree that had no flowers on it, only leaves.

"This is a cherry blossom tree," he said. "It bloomed earlier, back in spring. I'm afraid to say the flowers have already fallen off," he told her.

She frowned. She had looked so forward to seeing exactly what her mother named her after, and why.

Sasuke seemed to notice her change in attitude and led her back into the large castle. He took her past many rooms and through countless halls, only to bring her into a room adored with paintings on all of its walls.

He brought her before one in specific. "This is what a cherry blossom tree looks like in bloom," he told her as he watched he eyes carefully look at the picture in wonder. Then her smile returned.

'Now I know…it's because of the color,' she thought brightly, looking up into Sasuke's dark eyes and silently thanked him. 'Thank you so much, Sasuke-kun. You don't know how much this means to me.'

He smiled back at her but broke out of the trance her eyes set him into. "Come along, still much to see, Sakura-chan. And I don't want to keep you past lunch."

----------

She awoke in the same bed as she did yesterday, only she was more aware of her surroundings. She stretched and opened her eyes, expecting bright sunlight to flood through the windows, but she never met that sight. The room was darker than usual, but the curtains were opened. She jumped out of bed and ran to the window. There were dark clouds looming above and it seemed as if water was falling from the sky. Astounded by the event, she ran out of her bedroom and through the halls, trying to find the stairs so she could get to the outside to view this incident while it was occurring. Her luck ran dry when she slammed into Sasuke as he exited a room.

He saw Sakura and sighed. "What's with every one running into me all of a su—" he stopped as he realized what Sakura was wearing… or rather what she was not. "Why… are you in your underwear?" he exclaimed, averting his eyes, focusing them on a portrait that hung further down the hall.

Sakura looked down at herself. 'I'm not naked… what's the big deal?' she questioned as she heard Sasuke yell for Shizune.

It took her a few minutes, but Shizune finally showed up, and chuckled slightly at what she saw, but she hid her laughter as Sasuke glowered. "Sakura-san, you can't run around like that; it's indecent. Come back to your room and we'll get you dressed," Shizune said as she led Sakura away. Sakura looked back at Sasuke's retreating back and felt almost betrayed.

'It's not his fault…I'm just not used to Human customs,' she concluded.

----------

She was finally dressed and ran, once more, through the halls and down the stairs. She came to one of the doors leading outside, and hastily opened it and ran out. She suddenly felt the coldness of the water that was dropping from above. 'How is this possible?' she questioned, not ever hoping for an answer. She liked the mystery the way it was.

She twirled around in it, and let her clothes become heavy with water, but she did not care. For some reason, the rain made her feel more at home.

She stopped her antics when she noticed the faint outline of a person exiting the forest just beyond the bridge. All she saw was black hair and dark clothes and she immediately ran for him. 'Why's Sasuke-kun out here?' she asked mentally as she got closer. But soon she realized her perceptions were off and slowed her running pace to a trot. It was not Sasuke, but his brother. 'Itachi…I think?' she knit her brows together. 'Alright… why is Itachi out here?' she corrected herself as she finally confronted him. Being polite, she smiled as brightly as she could, despite him not being the person she thought him to be at first.

"Good morning, Sakura-san," he mumbled as he walked past her. His hair was lank from the rain, but still looked as sleek and lustrous as it normally did. She did not want to admit it, but she favored Itachi's well groomed hair to Sasuke's spike-like hair.

She turned and followed him as he walked over the bridge and towards the castle.

He stopped abruptly and she bumped into his back. He turned his head to gaze at her from over his back. His coal eyes met her apologetic ones and he turned around and kept walking, not even apologizing for stopping so suddenly.

'Jerk,' she thought bitterly. She waited in the same spot on the bridge, even after he went back inside the castle. It was not until she saw something white flash across the dark sky and heard a loud boom that she decided to go inside. She was not frightened by the storm raging outside, but rather fascinated by it.

Every minute that passed by, the light flashes became more frequent and the ground shaking roars became louder. She sat on a small couch facing a window and watched it, ignoring all else around her. She was even ignorant to the fact that Sasuke had entered the room.

"I, too, like thunder and lightning storms, Sakura-san."

She jumped slightly at the voice behind her. She whipped her head around only to see nothing but a dark and empty room. 'I could have sworn—'

"Boo," came the same voice, but now it was right in her ear.

She practically bounced off the couch and about three feet into the air. Although he could not hear her scream like he knew she wanted to, he heard her gasp loudly at his voice.

She turned her head towards him and he shocked eyes softened slightly upon realizing it was him.

He smirked. "I'm sorry, Sakura-san, I could not help myself."

That earned him a glare. 'I wonder if all Uchihas are jerks,' she pondered, while turning her attention back to the lightning cascading across the ash-black clouds.

He also turned his head to watch the storm outside. "It reminds me of when I almost drowned when my ship sank," Sasuke muttered.

Sakura looked at him from the corner of her eye, forgetting entirely about being angry with him. She was surprised by his sudden jump into the topic, but she assumed he probably needed to talk about it and had no one else to open up to. She felt almost honored. She turned her body to him and waited for him to continue.

"I don't remember much, but somehow I survived and ended up on a shore right next to an abbey. A young woman brought me there… she saved me," he said, smiling slightly. "I don't even recall her name… if she even told me. I saw her once on the sandy beach before I blacked out and returned here."

Sakura's heart started to beat faster. 'Sasuke-kun…that girl's name was Sakura… and she's sitting right next to you!' her mind screamed. She did not think he would even remember her, seeing as he was only conscious for a few moments when she was with him, but nonetheless, it filled her with joy to know he did recall her. But why had he not distinguished her as his savior yet? 'His memory must just be foggy,' she told herself, 'it was dark, stormy and his eyes were probably glazed over from his brush with death.'

"I doubt I'll ever see her again," Sasuke said as he stood up and began walking toward the archway that led into another room. "But if I do, I know I will recognize her," he said, now smiling with a faraway look on his face. "I will never forget her crystal blue eyes or her lemony blonde hair," he said finally as he walked out of the room.

Sakura's heart as felt as if it had split in two. 'He… he thinks that other girl saved him…she was only there when he awoke!' she exclaimed as something strange began to happen. Her eyes began to sting slightly and it became hard to control her breathing. 'Wha? What's…going on?' she questioned as she felt a liquid drop slip out of her eye and slide down her cheek. She wiped it onto her finger and smelt it, trying to identify it. Then she brought out her tongue and licked her finger. Her eyes widened as she found out what it was. Even in her heartbroken state, it brought her mouth into a wry smile. The liquid from her eye was salty. It was to remind her where she came from and where she was to always belong.

'It tells me I will always be one with the sea.'

----------

Author's Notes: Goodie goodie gumdrops! I got done with a chapter faster than I thought I would. And it's longer than usual. Hope you all like it. I want to thank all of you for your reviews, the more you all review the faster I'll get done with a chapter, because, like I said, your reviews inspire me. I would also like to thank Microsoft Word for putting up with my numerous spelling errors, that probably would make up 2/3 of the entire story if not for this program. Props to the Word. : )

(Edit) mfpeach: I forgot to answer this question at first when I first posted the new chapter, so here's your response. Orochimaru won't be using the voice, but he took it to prevent Sakura from getting what she wants. Orochimaru's the antagonist, I guess, in this story. If Sakura had her voice, she could tell Sasuke all about her feelings, and jog his memory of her. Orochimaru, being the twisted son of a bitch he is, made sure she could not tell him anything, thus giving me a more complicating story to write.