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 X: The Letter

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Sasuke sat at his desk in his room carefully going through letters and invitations he received often. He wiped sweat off his brow as he sealed another letter with wax and pressed it with the Uchiha family seal. It was already the middle of summer and it was unbearably hot. If he did not have so much work on his hands as of late, he would have found some time to swim in the shallow water of the ocean for a bit. He also did not have enough time to spend with Sakura which he regretted; but she did not seem to mind. She also seemed much happier ever since he had visited her that night.

He glanced out the window quickly. It was already fading into twilight, to his dismay. He had put off all his work just so he could spend his time with Sakura, which proved to be a win-lose situation. Sure it soothed his hormones, but it just made the work load even worse.

He stopped reading the current letter when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," he said, putting the letter down.

The door opened to reveal Neji. He did not say anything at first, just stepped in and closed the door behind him. He then searched through his inside pocket of his coat and pulled out a letter. "Uchiha-sama, a letter was just delivered from town. It's from your parents," he relayed as he handed the white envelope to Sasuke.

"That's odd; they usually don't bug Itachi or I over summer…Any idea what they want?" Sasuke wondered, opening the letter cautiously.

Neji just shrugged as Sasuke started reading the note.

When finished, Sasuke shoved the small paper inside his over coat pocket, crumpling it. He got up, without a second glance at the pile of papers on his desk, and practically stormed out of the room.

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"Did you know anything about this?" Sasuke demanded, slamming the wrinkled letter down in front of Itachi on his table.

Itachi grazed his eyes over it. "Hm, I did not think they would go that far," he mumbled, trying to sound surprised, but all that came out was arrogance.

If possible, Sasuke grew angrier. "What did you tell them!" he spat, grabbing Itachi by the collar of his shirt.

Itachi just smirked and peeled his brother's tight grip off easily and calmly. "I just sent them a letter telling them about how we were doing, how everything in this region was going, and, of course, I told them about our little visitor," he said as a triumphant gleam shone in his eyes.

Sasuke was ready to punch him, but held himself back. "This is ridiculous. How can they do this to me! It's not even fair," he said as he pounded his fists on the table, sending strong vibrations through it that even Itachi felt.

Itachi scoffed. "They wrote they desire for you to go through with everything, but they won't oblige you to do anything; you're lucky they're giving you a choice."

Sasuke's mood lightened slightly by what his brother said, even though his brother said it with regret. Sasuke sneered. "I'm not lucky, Itachi. It's because I'm the favorite." And with that said, Sasuke strode out of the room, leaving Itachi slightly irritated.

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Sasuke found Sakura where he thought he would find her, in the library; she often did not play the harpsichord at night.

Sakura looked up from her book at the sound of the door opening and smiled as she noticed it was Sasuke whom was now in her presence.

"Sakura, I want to have a word with you," he said as he took a seat on the couch near the door and pat the space next to him and she stood up from her chair and sat in the indicated spot. He brought her into a loving embrace and laid his head against her left breast, listening to the steady beat of her heart that began to get faster upon contact. "I got a letter today, from my parents," he started.

Sakura began to wonder what this was all about.

"They want me to get married," he continued, almost certain he heard her heart stop for a few moments.

Sakura went rigid. Her mind automatically recalled all what Orochimaru had said. "…If you fail to win your lover's heart and he marries another… the morning after the wedding, your heart will break, and you will turn into the foam on the crest of waves the moment the sun's rays touch your skin…" She could feel the salt water begin to sting at her eyes. 'He can't…he wouldn't…not after all this…' she questioned as the tears broke out of her eyes and slid down her cheek. One fell of her cheek and onto Sasuke's forehead.

He looked up and was surprised to see Sakura crying. Instinctively, he brought up his hand and wiped away her tears. "Don't cry, Sakura. You never let me finish," he said, smiling. "They want me to get married, but they won't force me to. I could never love her; the only woman I truly want as my bride would be the woman who saved me from drowning, but I doubt I'll ever see her again. If I were compelled to choose a bride, I would rather choose you, Sakura," he said, tightening the embrace he was giving her.

She felt relieved. She no longer felt threatened, and it felt as though weights had been lifted of her shoulders. 'He said he would marry me if he had to choose!' she squealed mentally as she returned the hug with equal vigor.

"I want you to come with me to see the princess," he muttered, lifting his head from her chest.

She bobbed her head while smiling. 'I will follow you anywhere, as long as you allow it,' she thought happily.

He returned the smile, just not as greatly. He then groaned. "I better go; I still have mountains of work to finish. We should be leaving in a few days, so get a start of packing," he conveyed to her before exiting the room.

She stood up to return to the chair she was previously sitting in, but before she could make another move, she noticed a paper drifted from her lap and swayed to the floor like a feather falling in a light breeze. 'What's this?' she thought as she picked it up. 'It must've fallen out of Sasuke-kun's pocket,' she concluded. Though she knew it was wrong, she began to read it.

"Dear Sasuke,

We were very surprised to hear from Itachi and I must say we were very taken aback when he told us about the woman you have been taking care of. I hope you realize you probably have so much gossip buzzing in the towns about you and that woman, and frankly we don't need any of it. They probably already think of it as scandalous.

Your father and I have decided you are of age to begin measuring out suitors for yourself and we hope you start to think about marriage. We have already picked out a lovely candidate for you to view. We are not going to force you to marry her, but we would like for you to at least meet her.

Her family rules over the land west of our kingdom and their main castle is also on a port, so the simplest transportation there would be by water. Her name is Yamanaka Ino and she is close within your age range. It is said she is very beautiful and I'm sure she would be a perfect match for you, so I urge you to at least just meet with her and her family. We will be waiting at there castle, so please don't ignore this letter, we hope to see you soon!"

Sincerely,

Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto

'Yamanaka Ino…a perfect match for Sasuke-kun?' Sakura thought as she reread the entire letter. She shook her head. 'Sasuke said he couldn't love her; she's not the one whom saved him…though the one whom he thought saved him didn't save him either. He should be marrying me. If only he knew,' she inwardly sighed. She walked over to the fireplace and tossed the letter into the hot flames. 'If only he knew it was me,' she thought as she sat into the chair and picked up the book and began reading once more.

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Author's Notes: Hope you like this chapter, we're getting towards the end of the story; only about 2 or 3 chapters to go.

ThisIsMyLifeToLive: The mermaid had 3 days in the Disney version. My fanfic is based on the actual story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, sorry for the confusion. And thanks!

Meme: Thanks a lot:D Seductive? xD Heehee. I just wanted to incorporate some romance into the story, which I did not think I was capable of writing.

Alright, you got your update, now you just have to wait for the next one, which will come sooner, I promise. I was just busy 'cause I wasn't home in like the last 4 days.

Don't forget to drop a review off:heart: