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 IX: Visit to Town

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She did not know how long she had been staying at the castle with the Uchiha siblings; days, weeks, months, she did not know, nor did she care. Things were finally getting better for her, and she no longer questioned if what she had done to get here was right or wrong. Sasuke and she began to spend more time together, and she started to suspect that he shared her feelings… at least to a point. He kept his word and helped her practice playing the harpsichord and she loved every moment of it, not only because she was close to Sasuke, but that she truly enjoyed playing the instrument. He taught her to read music notes, and what keys corresponded to which notes and how to tell the rhythm of the music and how long to hold out a note for. She at first thought this was the hardest thing she had ever had to learn, but she soon found out it was quite easy. Most of the day, if she was not in the library, in the garden, or helping Shizune with some of her chores, she would play the harpsichord, determined to get better.

The older Uchiha brother, Itachi, had not bothered her since that time in the library, and she hardly saw him either. The only time she saw him was at breakfast and sometimes dinner, never lunch. She always wondered where he disappeared off to, but she was always glad to be as far away from him as possible. After he had interrogated her like he did, she thought she developed Itachi-phobia. Sakura did not even look up to his eyes when she saw him, or passed him in the hall; she kept her eyes plastered on the floor beneath her.

'Creepy son of a bitch,' she mentally muttered as she finished practicing another piece on the harpsichord. The sun was now just ascending above the water, the light coming in floods through the Byzantine-style clerestory windows. 'Have I been practicing for that long already?' she questioned, closing the music book in front of her. She had been practicing ever since she had first awoken, just when the indigo skies had begun to fade into lighter blues and teal-greens. Sakura covered her mouth with her right hand as she yawned.

"Sakura-san!" she heard Shizune call through the halls, obviously oblivious to where she was. "Sakura-san!" she heard a moment later.

Sakura sighed and played a few notes on the harpsichord loudly, to indicate to Shizune where she was. 'I'm surprised she did not hear me playing earlier,' she thought.

"There you are, Sakura-san!" Shizune exclaimed as she walked into the room. "Breakfast is ready. Come and eat before Sasuke and Itachi get into an eating contest," she scoffed, as she led Sakura to the kitchen.

Sakura smiled at Shizune's humor, but even the funnier thing was, what she had said was true. It happened on more than one occastion that Itachi and Sasuke tried to best each other through eating. Sakura loved when they did it, she found entertainment out of it.

Itachi and Sasuke were already seated at the table, no food had been touched yet. It was the way it always was in the morning, afternoon, and evening; they would not eat until she was present. It was what they called: 'common mannerism'. Even though she thought it was ridiculous to make them wait for her before eating they continued, but overtime, she grew used to it.

Shizune pulled out her chair, waited for her to sit, and then pushed the chair back into place. "Enjoy your meal," she said before leaving the room, to do chores, most likely.

"Itadakimasu!" the trio muttered before they began to eat.

Sakura took a bite out of her bread roll that was spread over with some fruit jam. It was her favorite morning food ever since she first tried it during the first few days of her stay. She also had a hard boiled egg with some salt sprinkled in a light dose over it.

"Sakura, I plan on going to town today for some updates on news, and of course to show you around," Sasuke mentioned casually, after swallowing the bread from one of the rolls. "That is," he continued, "if you want to go."

Sakura looked at him as if he were mad. 'Why wouldn't I want to go, I've been cramped in this castle for who knows how long, of course I wanna go!' her mind exclaimed, but no one would have ever known what she was thinking after she gave a slow and refined nod.

"When do you plan on returning?" Itachi asked as he knit his fingers together just below his nose while his elbows were set up on the table.

Sasuke shrugged. "Probably around or after night fall. I want to show Sakura the theatre in town. Maybe she will want to see a play?" he said, sneaking a glance to the pink-haired girl across the table.

She returned the sneaky glance, all while smiling.

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Sakura watched in amazement at the passing scenery from the stagecoach's window. She watched carefully, trying to take in everything she saw. There were flying creatures all throughout the forest, singing songs. Sakura assumed they were birds just from the books she read on biology.

Sasuke wondered how she could find so much enjoyment from a simple ride through a forest. He watched as her expression changed each time she noticed something she did not see before. If he did not know better he would have thought she just came out from a house she was locked in for her whole life; never once outside. He had to smile at her antics. "Having fun?" he asked as she jumped slightly by his sudden vocation; obviously startled.

Sakura flustered but quickly recovered and answered with her often used nods. She waited to see if he had anything else to say, when she realized he did not, she turned back to the window and continued her gazing. She was overly surprised when the carriage finally reached the town. The streets were cobblestone, just like the castle bridge's path. All around the town were countless Humans; chattering, haggling, gossiping, arguing, and of course shopping. There were even more here than there were on Sasuke's ship, and it astonished her to no end. What she noticed most was that most of their clothes were not like the ones she had seen being worn on the women on the ship; these women's clothing were dull in color, and had patches, tears, and stains all over them. She then tried to remember what one of her narrative books had called people like this. 'Commoners, street rats, the poor…' she recalled.

Finally, the stagecoach stopped and the driver came around to open the door. Sasuke stepped out first and then held his hand out to help Sakura out also.

'I'm not stupid… I know how to get out,' she thought almost angrily, but she took his hand nonetheless.

"Uchiha-sama, what time would you like me to meet you back here at?" the driver asked.

Sasuke thought for a moment. "Meet us back here at sunset. If we're not here, please wait," Sasuke said as he and Sakura began to walk away.

The driver nodded and bowed, even though Sasuke was not looking anymore.

"Much to see," Sasuke said as he looked around. "Now what should we see first?" he asked Sakura. "There will be a play in the theatre in about an hour, I can show you some great shops and bakeries, or I can just tour you around the town," he said, looking at her while she determined an answer.

Sakura thought long and hard about what she wanted to do first. Then she made her choice and she held up her pointer finger, signaling "1".

Sasuke smirked. "That's what I though you would pick," he said. "I hope there's a good play today," he muttered as he took her by the hand, leading her with him.

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The play had let out sometime after noon. Sakura had never seen such a performance in all her life. Sure, she had seen plays done back where she lived, but there was just something magical about the way the Humans went about in their plays. They seemed so… in character and devoted to their role; as if they had rehearsed the role their entire life, perfecting it. She was still grinning, even several minutes after the play had ended and they had went to get some food for lunch.

Sasuke bought two rolls for each of them and a fried fish to be shared. Then they took the food, and ate their small lunch on the sitting platform that surrounded the town's large fountain.

Though she was not that hungry, Sakura still ate all of what Sasuke had bought for her; the rolls and her half of the fried fish.

"You enjoyed the play, right?" she heard Sasuke address her for the first time since the play ended.

Sakura smiled but not nodding; he still got the answer.

"I'm glad. I thought you might not have liked it, that maybe it was different from the entertainment you're used to," he said, cleaning up the plate from the fish.

She followed him as he returned the plate back to the owner of the fish shop. 'He makes good fish. It's much better than raw fish,' she noted, still tasting the taste of the fish in her mouth.

Sasuke and she began just casually walking around the streets, with Sakura admiring the shops they pasted.

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It was not long before gossip began to brew amongst the women who saw the young Uchiha prince pass by with the lovely young women. Sakura's cheeks tinted as she heard some of the whispers about her being his lover. 'If only it were true,' she thought mournfully. She then wondered if Sasuke had heard any of what some of the women and even men said. If he did, he did not show it. She sighed. 'I wonder if he thinks the kiss he gave me was a mistake,' she thought as her mood began to darken. He small smile disappeared as her face retained a solemn expression.

Sasuke was quick to notice her change in attitude. "Are you feeling ill?" he asked as he stopped her to get a closer look at her.

She shook her head but for once, she did not smile at him when responding. 'I'm not ill to the standards you speak of, Sasuke-kun,' she thought as she looked away from his ebony eyes.

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but ended up closing it a second later. He decided to talk with her later, when they returned to the privacy of the castle.

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The rest of the day spent was quiet, except when Sasuke gave her a tour of the town. He gave her histories on some of the land marks and specific places around it. For example, the fountain was the site for a murder of a brothel girl.

She had listened closely to his explanations and to all the details he gave her, so she could paint her own picture of the event happening.

When the sun began to set, Sasuke and Sakura returned to the spot where they began in the morning, and sure enough, the driver was waiting for them along with the carriage.

The ride home was dark and most of all quiet. Sakura was not bothered as much by the silence as Sasuke was. He was determined to figure out what had caused her sudden change in attitude. He wondered if it was what the villagers were gossiping about. Then he wondered if she was bothered by what they said about him and her… about being lovers. He speculated if she was repulsed by the idea of a relationship between them. Maybe there was already someone else. Then Itachi popped into his head. They were alone together in the library that day; it did look suspicious. But then he pushed the outrageous thought into the confines of his mind. Itachi was never around, and Sakura spent most of her time with him. Most of the day time, his mind reminded him. Sasuke was now thunderstruck. Itachi could visit her in the night… doing God knows what, his mind ventured further. Sasuke could not believe what his mind was implying, and what was worse was that he began to suspect it as fact. It could not be true, he thought. Could it?

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Sasuke, like he usually did, walked Sakura to her room before he retired to his. And like any other night he said "Good night" to her before he disappeared into the darkness as she did the same, only into her room.

She stripped out of her gown and proceeded to dress into her night gown. She pulled back the covers of the bed and climbed into it, lying on her side and trying to fall asleep. However, sleep did not come as soon as she would have liked. Her eyes remained open, watching the shadows of the trees in the moonlight sway back and forth to the summer breeze. She laid there for about a half-hour just watching the moving shadows, sleep unable to claim her. She heard a silent knock at her door that made her bolt upright in her bed. 'Who could it be at this hour?' she wondered, she was never disturbed after everyone knew she had gone to bed. She pulled on a robe, trying to make herself look at least a tad bit decent, and then she moved to the door. At first she thought it was all just a figment of her imagination, but she opened the door anyway.

At first she did not see anything; it was too dark in the hall. She went to close the door, but something pressed hard against the wood, preventing it.

"Sakura, I need to talk with you," came the reply from the darkness of the hall.

It was Sasuke. His voice sent shivers down her spine as he spoke; his voice sounding as smooth as steel.

Sakura moved aside to let him through. She watched as his dark form walked into the light coming in from the large windows. She then closed the door and turned to him, waiting for an explanation to his intrusion.

"Sakura…I need to know… are you and Itachi… involved?" he asked carefully, unsure of how to word what he was trying to get at.

Sakura stared at him. 'Involved… with that… crazy son of a bitch!' she exclaimed as she practically gaped at Sasuke. She then shook her head frantically. 'What the hell are you thinking, Sasuke-kun?'

Sasuke looked relieved. "I had thought… I mean what you were doing in the library… it was wrong to assume," he stumbled, now embarrassed at his conjecture.

Sakura smiled wry at him and slowly stalked over to him and hugged him, to show him that she was not angry at him for his assumption.

At first, he was tense, but he then relaxed into it and he too wrapped his arms around her frame, bringing her closer to him. He placed his head into her stands of pink and inhaled. He guessed she would have smelt like cherry blossoms, but she smelled like lavender instead. He ran his fingers through the hair, untangling slight knots as he did so. "Sakura…" he whispered into her ear.

She shivered once more as he spoke. His breath tickled at her ear. 'Sasuke-kun, what does this mean?' she questioned… even though she knew he could not hear her query. She felt him pull slightly out of the embrace and she looked up at him. Then his face drew closer to hers, lips just a hair apart.

"What is this feeling I get when I am around you, Sakura? Why did I feel jealously rise within me when I thought you had a relationship with Itachi? Why do I have to fight with myself to keep my hands off you when you're around?" he asked, watching her eyes very carefully. He did not even give her a chance to reply; because she froze the moment his cold lips met hers.

She watched with wide eyes as his eyes closed and continued the soft, chaste kiss. She followed his example, and closed her eyes also. Her eyes widened once more when she felt something wet run across her lip. She gasped and before she could do anything, Sasuke deepened the kiss. His tongue explored her mouth, tasting every corner of it, memorizing it. Sakura, after over coming shock, closed her eyes and began to move her tongue against Sasuke's. She heard him moan as she did so and felt him tangle his tongue with hers. Finally Sasuke ended the kiss, and watched as Sakura regained her breath.

After salvaging her composure, she looked up at him. 'Sasuke-kun, it was wonderful,' she thought to herself.

Sasuke smirked and brought her into a chaste kiss. "Good night, Sakura. See you in the morning," he said after ending the kiss. He walked out the door and closed it behind him, leaving her once more to deal with her personal thoughts in the darkness.

'Does this mean he returns my feelings?'

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Author's Notes: Tried to do a longer chapter for you guys. I was hit with some minor forms of writer's block. But other than that, this chapter wrote itself… actually, my lemonade did most of it, it's my version of caffeine. Thank you everyone for the kind reviews on the last chapter.

UchihaCrystalz: Orochimaru works in a twisted way. He knew that if he let Sakura use her voice, she would win Sasuke's heart and thus win against his planned plot to get her to fail. He never helps someone to succeed. He helps them to get what they want… at least for a little while, and then he watches them fail. Like I said to mfpeach, he's a twisted son of a bitch. He has no real use for the voice, it's just to ensure Sakura's failure.

SillyMail: Heheh, I'm trying to keep Itachi in character, dark and mysterious. Even though I think I got a little OOC with anger, 'cause he seems calm to me.

Once again, thanks for your commentary of chapter 8, I hope you liked this one too. Don't forget to leave a review, even if it just says "good story"; I like to hear it. :D