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 VIII: Harpsichord
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Sakura, for the next few days, unconsciously avoided Sasuke. When he would walk into a room, she would immediately exit or completely ignore him. Shizune had noticed it the first day and questioned Sakura about it, but the bubble-gum haired girl just smiled and shook her head to show nothing was wrong. Shizune knew she was lying, but chose not to press any further. Sakura was relieved that she did not.
It also seemed someone else noticed Sakura's sudden change in attitude; the older Uchiha brother. Itachi had been sneaking glances at the young woman since she had dropped her joyous moods and smiles to melancholy dispositions and faked smiles. Itachi could not decipher if it was because Sakura was homesick, sick of here, or what… he did not know. Unlike Shizune, Itachi did not realize Sakura's ignorance in his brother, only her mood change. He silently decided he would find out exactly what her problem was, sooner or later.
He opted on sooner.
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Sakura was sitting alone in the library of the castle, reading through some works of fiction by various authors. She had learned more about this world just through the books she had read. She browsed through some books on philosophy, religion, biology, and regular narrative ones. She realized she enjoyed poetry quite a lot, she thought it was written so personally and thoughtfully… and she could even relate to some poems. If she was able to write, she definitely would have tried writing some poems of her own. 'But the fact is that I can't…' she thought mournfully as she closed the book she was reading and placed it on the shelf.
She let herself fall down on one of the cushioned chairs and sighed, thinking about her current predicament. 'Sasuke-kun thinks that Human girl saved him, and he smiled when he talked about her… does this mean he likes her? How can he! He didn't even exchange words with her!' She knew she was being a hypocrite now. 'I didn't talk to him either and I still fell in love with him. So ironic…'
She failed to notice the door open, or the figure that was currently leaning on the door frame, watching her.
'Maybe Sasuke-kun can learn to love me…I can achieve his love! Perfect plan… but how? Seduction? No, he'd only think of me as a filthy whore…oh what to do?' She began to pound one of her fists to her forehead trying to get herself to think.
"Don't get mad at your forehead just because it's big," came a cool voice from the back of the room.
Sakura turned her head and noticed Itachi was in the room with her. 'At least it's not Sasuke-kun,' she thought thankfully. She gave him a questioning look, shook her head, and then turned away from him. 'Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away.' To her dismay, he did not.
"You seem to be depressed all of a sudden… is our hospitality not good enough for you? If so, I'm sure a brothel in town would love to have you stay. I'm sure they'd be delighted to hear you can't talk…or scream," he replied darkly as he strode towards her.
She shook her head several times to answer negatively to all he had asked or said. She could not believe what he just said. She sincerely hoped he had been joking, though he seemed like the type of person without a taste for humor. She became frightened when the room became silent and she could not even hear his movements. Her hair began to stand up on the back of her neck.
"Or you could always stay outside," he whispered right into her ear, causing her to shiver. "What is bothering you, girl? If you say you're happy with our generosity, what could you be moping about that you weren't days ago?" he demanded, gripping slightly at her shoulders. As he expected, silence was the only reply he received. "It's strange, isn't it?" he began, speaking as slyly as Orochimaru had. "How could someone with such obvious high-birth not belong to any neighboring regions? Or be known or recognized by them either?" he questioned, his grip now becoming like a vice.
Sakura became scared. He could do what ever he wanted to her and probably no one would know. No one on the surface knew her, so how could they notice her disappearance? And if the servants, Shizune, or Sasuke asked about her, Itachi could just say that her family came to retrieve her when they were not around. She did not think she was ever so scared as she was at this moment. Her fear started to decline when she felt his hands let go of her shoulders.
"Sasuke." She heard Itachi say, and all her fear disappeared only to be replaced by nervousness.
"What were you doing?" Sasuke demanded, eyeing Itachi carefully.
Itachi shrugged and slowly began walking in the direction of the door. When he stood next to Sasuke at the threshold he finally replied. "We were just talking." He then shoved past Sasuke and out of site.
Sasuke watched the direction in which Itachi walked off many moments after he disappeared. He then came back to reality when he noticed Sakura trying to sneak past him and out of the room. "And where do you think you're going?" he asked, turning towards he as she froze.
She rose her eyes to meet his and just stared, unsure of what to do now. 'I think I was more comfortable with Itachi around.'
"He didn't do anything to you, right?" Sasuke asked, sounding concerned.
Sakura just shook her head, and once more tried to leave the room, only to have Sasuke grab her wrist. She looked at him with confusion written all over her face.
Sasuke just smiled back. "I want to show you something."
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Sasuke led her back to the room where they had watched the storm together… and where he had told her about his encounter with the woman who he had thought saved him. The thought still stung her heart and mind.
He brought her over to a large harpsichord, seemingly in the Flemish style.
She stared at it for moments, obviously trying to make out what it was. It was nothing she had ever seen before, yet she felt herself drawn to it.
She watched as Sasuke sat down on the small chair in front of the contraption and patted twice on the small space he left on the seat and Sakura sat down. Sasuke smiled as started to talk. "It's a harpsichord, Sakura-san. An instrument, just like a harp or a flute," he explained, gesturing toward the harpsichord in front of them. He then pressed down on a few of the keys and Sakura's eyes widened as she heard the most melodic sound she had ever heard; even more beautiful than the songs of the whales. Sasuke smiled at her reaction. He then began playing some simple songs he knew from the lessons he had taken when he was a child. He watched as Sakura smiled a real smile for the first time in the last few days. He then stopped and took her hands in his, playing them on the keys.
'What's he doing?' she silently wondered.
He then began guiding her hands through the keys, teaching her the basics of playing the instrument. He also explained a lot to her about the harpsichord, not just how to play it. How it was made, who made it, and how pressing down on the keys created the notes.
"You try now," he told her as he took his hands off hers.
Sakura eyes became saucers. 'On my own?' she mentally exclaimed, doubting herself. Even though she did not want to, though, she still tried. Her fingers often hit the wrong key or two keys by accident when she tried replaying one of the songs Sasuke played earlier. If Sasuke did not help her with the melody, she surely would not have gotten any part of the song correct; she might have just resorted to randomly hitting keys.
Sasuke smiled when she was finished. "You're good… for your first try anyway," he said sheepishly. "Let's try again."
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She and Sasuke practiced until nightfall came. They had even skipped dinner just to continue undisturbed. Sakura began getting better, she was able to play simple songs by memory, without any help from Sasuke, but she still hit wrong keys every so often.
"I can't believe it is already dark out. It's amazing how time flies, don't you think?" he asked as he got to his feet and stretched, then put his hand out to help Sakura up too.
Sakura nodded to his question while a slight blush tinged her face when he offered his hand, which she gratefully accepted. 'Time flies when I'm with you, Sasuke-kun.' She yawned and felt her eyes slightly water from it.
Sasuke chuckled. "It seems I have kept you too long, Sakura-san. You're probably dying for exhaustion; I think I worked you too hard," he smiled as he began walking her to her room.
"If you enjoyed doing this, I'm sure we can practice again tomorrow, if you'd like?" he asked as they walked up the steps.
Sakura nodded excitedly. 'Of course, Sasuke-kun!'
Sasuke smirked. "Then I'll work you extra hard tomorrow. Expect no mercy," he warned her.
If Sakura could giggle, she would have done so at that moment. When she turned her attention back to the world around them, she realized they had reached her room.
"Good night," he said with… regret in his voice?
She nodded to show she returned the words and opened her door.
"Wait…" she heard him say. And just as she turned back to him, she felt his lips against her cheek. He eyes widened considerably and she felt herself go rigid.
When he pulled back he began to walk away. "Good night, Sakura," he told her again.
'He called me 'Sakura', not 'Sakura-san'…' her mind whispered as she unconsciously walked into her room. She quickly undressed and got into her sleeping gown. She ushered herself into sleep with the event of Sasuke's kiss running through her head.
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Author's Notes: Another chapter complete, more to go. I really wanted to make the instrument a piano, but I checked the history on the piano and it came into play somewhere in the 1700s, whereas this story takes place a few centuries prior… so I had to make it a harpsichord. Oh well, it's still good.
Mfpeach: I have yet to decide what I'm going to do about that. I really don't want her to, but I kinda want to stay true to the story… maybe I'll change a few things around… I'll just have to see.
ThisIsMyLifeToLive: Thank-you! I'm glad you're enjoying it. No, sadly Sakura won't be getting her voice back, though I would like her too.
Aznmelon: It's getting there. : ) I want the relationship to grow, not be spontaneous.
Cette-FILES: He will, eventually, though it's still a ways off from the current point in the story.
Please keep reviewing, I like reading what you think of my story and the new installments. : D
