Chapter 2

(A/N) Sorry for the wait, I have a lot of homework and tests to study for; teachers are sadistic creatures. Well, that and I keep getting distracted by youtube. =/

Thanks for all the reviews and alerts! They really made me happy~ ^_^ Still on the hunt for a beta, feel free to PM me if your interested! =D

Now on with the story!

(I do not own Naruto)

Itachi struggled to hold his breath as he felt himself get tossed about in the water. The current was relentless as it twisted, shoved, and battered against him. He couldn't tell if he was being tossed towards the surface or deeper into the ocean. All around him was water; deep, dark, water. It was icy too; biting into his skin. All he could see was pitch black nothingness.

Moving his arms was a useless and futile attempt. He felt like he was a puppet, suspended by strings and unable to move somewhere, anywhere. His lungs weren't protesting yet but he struggled to remain calm.

Unable to take a deep breath, Itachi closed his eyes and roped in all emotions. He pulled in the confusion, chaos, panic, and…awe? Yes, awe for the beautiful mermaid that beckoned him to the murky waters beneath, awe for the stunningly pale eyes that stared at him without fear, awe for the enigma that was the merpeople.

He wasted too much time thinking. He needed air. Now.

He glanced around him again, which did nothing because still couldn't see a thing. However he could feel a shift; the current had settled and he was floating now. Stilling his limbs he felt his chest float and buoyancy pull him upward. Kicking his legs he broke the surface and he sucked in two parts water and one part air. He dropped under the surface again and struggled to clear his lungs. A second trip upwards resulted in a similar experience and left Itachi sputtering for his breath. Breaching the surface a third time he successfully inhaled some oxygen and coughed up the remaining liquid in his lungs.

With the danger of drowning gone, Itachi took note of his surroundings.

He was lost.

Not a sign of his ship or any struggling sailors. No bright lights, no trails of smoke from the fireworks, no voices to follow. He was completely and utterly alone.

Itachi's heart exploded in panic when he felt a pair of arms grab him from behind and pull him down.

Hinata watched him tumble through her favorite current and giggled. He isn't very experienced in the art of current surfing is he?

Flicking her tail behind her, she gracefully somersaulted through the water and ended up about an arm's length from Itachi. She watched as he stopped struggling and smiled. Ahh! Now he's getting it!

Itachi closed his eyes and appeared calm. Hinata leaned in a tad closer, absolutely enthralled by the fact that she was so close to a human, and quite a charming one at that.

Suddenly he exploded into motion as he fluidly swam upward, Hinata flinched back and followed after.

Her curiosity piqued when he thrashed around in the water. Why is he so worried? He was doing so well a moment ago. She pouted as he stopped gazed right through her, well that's just plain rude. He could at least say something. She looked around, is he looking for his ship? She giggled, Sorry to break it to you your highness but your ride is long gone. We just took the last current around for miles. Otousan probably won't stir up another one 'till tomorrow.

Hinata swam up closer to the prince and frowned at his lack of reaction. Wow, humans really aren't all that perceptive are they? Can he even see me?

She wiggled her fingers in an experimental wave. Itachi didn't even shift.

How can they possibly afford to be so oblivious? No wonder the sharks find them so easy to tease. I guess I'll have to take the initiative then.

Hinata pushed her head above the surface swam closer to Itachi. She reached out and grasped his shoulder pulling him down and closer, "Excuse me sir."

Only years of sparring with Neji and Hanabi allowed Hinata to duck under the haphazard fist launched her way.

"It's no use trying to fight me. The natural contour of human movements doesn't fit well underwater," Hinata said gently. She was barely able to register the shock on his face before he slipped under the surface, eyes closed. With a gasp she reached towards him and slung one of his arms over her shoulder. She glanced at his still face and whispered gently, "Don't worry, I've got you."

Itachi awoke to the bright, angry rays of the sun on the sandy beaches of Konohagakure. He blinked licked his lips. They were really salty and - surprisingly sweet? Flicking his tongue out to his bottom lip once again he frowned and shook his head, I must be imagining things.

Raising a hand to shade his eyes, he did as his survival tactics told him to do and took in his surroundings. His cloths were torn and stiff from drying out in the sun and the mentioned ball of light was crawling high in sky. It was probably almost noon and there was no sign of driftwood or shipwreck anywhere. Glancing around, he spotted a figure running towards him.

"Aniki! Where the hell have you been?" Sasuke jogged up to him and lent him a hand.

Itachi groaned in response and sat up. The blood rushed to his head and he felt the world dance around him for a moment before steadying. He looked up as Sasuke started chuckling.

"Great way to wake up after your 21st birthday isn't it?"

Itachi frowned and thumped his little brother's forehead, "Stop fooling around little brother, is everybody alright?"

The two brothers made their way back to the castle in the usual easygoing/dysfunctional manner, while the mermaid listened closely, floating nearby in the water. The majority of her body was submerged excluding her eyes and ears.

Silent as the sea, she slipped away, unnoticed, and fled back to her home.

"Where under the ocean have you been Hinata!" a very furious Neji yelled, "I've been avoiding uncle all day just to make sure I didn't get you in trouble!"

Hanabi cut in, "Sorry sis, I tried to stall for ya, but Neji-ni's just overprotective like that."

Hinata gave an understanding smile, "It's no problem Hanabi, I honestly didn't think you'd be able to keep much from niisan anyways."

Neji growled in frustration, "Since I'm obviously the bad guy here, I'm going to leave. I can take a hint where I'm not welcome," the merman turned around to swim away.

"Say hi to Tenten for me!" Hanabi snickered at Neji's blush and got a face full of bubbles for her troubles.

The hyuga sisters watched their cousin swim away before launching into a new, rather animated, conversation.

~x~

"You actually kissed him? Wow, I didn't think you'd ever be so forward sis."

"W-well, I'm not exactly so sure he'd be able to remember-"

"What do you mean he wouldn't remember? Why would you wipe something like that from his memories? Sure he's a human but I'd think that's the sort of memory you'd let him keep."

"Um, I mean he wasn't entirely conscious at the time."

"..."

"H-Hanabi?"

"So your first kiss was with a human that wasn't even awake to witness the event?"

"Well when you say it like that it's sounds so, um,"

"Pathetic?"

"I was going to say 'pitiable' but that works too."

"So lemme get this straight, you go back to check up on this guy, whose tossing and turning in the waves, only to get nearly clocked in the eye in return. Then he blacks out on you while you're trying to get him back to where he belongs, which leaves you to dragging his sorry ass through the water a couple hundred miles inland to his nice sandy beach," Hanabi frowned before continuing, "When pray tell, did you find him so totally irresistible that you just had to steal a kiss from his unconscious form? Was it before or after he fell fainted into your arms like a true prince?" sarcasm oozed from her every word.

Hinata pouted, "Well you don't need to be so blunt about it. Besides, he just looked so different just lying there in the sand," she hummed as she replayed the morning's events in her mind, "his face was just so calm and serene."

Hanabi stared, "Sis, I may be three years younger than you, but I feel like I can effectively say you're acting like a hormone-driven schoolgirl."

Hinata nodded wryly, "I know. Just don't tell 'tousan okay?"

Hanabi shook her head, "I won't say a thing, but you should probably work on pulling off the whole 'emotionless mask' face around father and Neji. You're pretty much an open book darling."

"Itachi, you're insane, you probably drank too much seawater. Maybe you're ill, I'll go get mother."

"Sasuke stop, my head is perfectly clear. I did not imagine the whole thing. She got me back here; I need to find her."

"But why would she help you? And how are you so sure it's the mermaid that brought you back? I mean you were unconscious a good portion of the time, you could have just floated back with the tides."

"Stop doubting me, I'm confident she did it," there's no way I could possibly forget those eyes.

Sasuke was silent for a moment, "Aniki, for all the teasing I really am worried about you. Not just me, everybody. We just want you to find someone who'll actually make you happy. We're not trying to pressure you into marrying anybody real soon, so if that's what this is-"

"Foolish little brother," Sasuke paused his little speech, "For once in my life, I'm not doing this for the kingdom. I'm intrigued by this as well. Besides,"

Itachi looked out across the ocean, "I still need to learn her name."

Much deeper under water than the Hyuga palace, an enormous, forgotten whale skeleton lay in ruins. The water transitioned from crystal clear to a grimy grayish-murky green. The very waters strangled the Sun's rays and left everything else to decay. Dead seaweed paraded down from the bones and dead flesh to fabricate makeshift walls.

It was within the rotting corpse and mangled weeds that the banished sea witch dwelled.

Anko stared into her glowing cauldron with an eerie smile adorning her face. Her hands traced along the backs of her slithering, slimy sea snakes. A light cackle filled the water, "Oh this is just precious. These two are simply a couple doomed from the start, and baby is it starting," she smirked as she dipped a finger into the solution, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to simply mix things up a little. After all, me getting them together will be like hooking two fish with one worm. Ahhhh two kingdoms for the price of one, this has to be my lucky day."

She pulled her finger from the cauldron and brought the solution to her lips. Licking her digits slowly her grin widened, "I guess I better get ready for the show. There are many guests I have to invite."

Her hand dropped back to the sea snake, "I can't wait to see the looks on their faces."

End of chapter 2!

Yes it's really short, sorry about that. It looked really long on Word, darn the misleading amount of pages! x(

Anyway so what did you think? I just love Anko! Lol, she's such a fun character. I didn't know who to make the villian in all of this, seeing as the akatsuki are Itachi's friends and Orochimaru just skeeves me out. So I settled for the Mitarashi, this is gonna be so much fun! =3

Any other characters you wanna see? Any ideas for me?

Review to let me know your thoughts on this! ^_^