Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Summary: He was so pretty. Naruto had never ever seen someone that pretty before. But was it possible for him to fall in love with a human?

Or: Naruto is a merman who got separated from his pack. He finds Sasuke sitting on a beach and falls in love.

Warnings: Narusasu/Sasunaru, boy's love, fantasy tropes, merpeople.

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Conch shell

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Part 1

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He was so pretty.

Naruto had never ever seen someone that pretty before.

He had spotted him just by accident. After being separated from his pack thanks to one of the strongest storms he'd ever seen, he had been wandering around the shore of a land he had never been to before. At the beginning, he panicked. He'd never been on his own before, not without the knowledge of his friends and family being in a place he could find them. Now, he didn't know where he was himself. How was he supposed to find the others?

He started swimming near the beach he'd found himself at, knowing it was potentially dangerous if he got spotted. He didn't fear humans, nor think they were monsters that would cut his tail off if they found him, no. But, as he was aware there were good and bad merpeople, he was sure there were nice and not too nice humans too. So, he was risking being caught by one of the not too nice ones.

Nonetheless, he eventually reached the surface, suddenly baffed at not seeing much more than clean, clear sand on one side, and an infinite amount of water on the other. The beach was completely empty. There was nothing, literally nothing. No little shells drawn by the waves, no little crabs walking over the sand, no seagulls making weird noises, no signs of humans at all… It was a beautiful sight, but a sad one too.

Naruto sighed, getting his head completely out of the water. How was the beach so empty while the ocean floor was so full of life and color?

Curious about what he'd found if he kept following the beach shore, he started to move again, his tail billowing through the water. Moving forwards, he discovered there were indeed some little animals fleeting on the sand but, for the most part, the place was uninhabited. Or at least that was what he thought until his eyes landed on him for the first time.

It was a human, that much was clear. He was covering himself with some fabrics, which Naruto knew were called clothes. He had pale, smooth skin, black hair with a blueish aspect to it, and eyes as dark as night. He sat there, in the middle of the beach, surrounded by nothing but the sand itself; looking at the horizon, where the sun was currently setting down.

Naruto couldn't help but gape at him from a distance. The boy hadn't noticed him, which the merman wasn't sure was a curse or a blessing, but just sat there, his elbows resting over his knees, unfocused eyes watching the warm colors of the sky.

He was beautiful, Naruto thought. He'd never seen someone so physically perfect before. The young merman was smitten, like a lightning had suddenly struck his body. It was just crazy. Was it possible to fall in love at first sight, and with a human? Was this feeling even love, though?

He felt his heart hammering harshly against his ribs, his stomach doing several funny flips, and he wanted nothing more than to get closer, nearer to the boy on the beach. But he was paralyzed. Was it even safe to make his presence evident? Was he willing to take the risk?

He took too long to make a choice though, because the next second, the boy was already standing, padding away from the shore.

Naruto got alarmed. What if he never saw the human again? What if he lost his chance to talk to him forever just because he'd been dubious?

Soon, there was no trace of the black-haired human save for the footprints on the beach floor.

Naruto just stayed there, his messy blond hair already dry for being exposed to the air for so long, no longer dripping, glued to his head. Now, it spiked funnily, golden locks falling over his forehead, contrasting with the color of his eyes, as blue as the sky during a sunny day.

Resignation dwelling up on him, he dipped down back into the sea. But he didn't leave. He swam far enough from the shore to not being easily seen from land, but not far away enough to get out of the area. He wasn't going to just go launch himself at the large ocean with no clue of where to go and find his pack. He was tired, he'd got a few scratches from the storm, even some ugly bruises on his arms, and he needed to rest.

He looked around to collect some rocks and seaweed to make an improvised nest at the side of a giant rock, and crawled inside, letting his bright orange tail curl around him, and using his arms as a pillow. He closed his eyes, still hearing the screams of his parents, of his friends, everyone calling out to him while the current pushed him away.

He wondered where they were now, if they were safe.

He didn't have nightmares, though. He dreamed of stunning black eyes, of pale, creamy-looking skin, and a sunset reflected in the surface of the ocean.

It turned out the human came to the beach again the next day, to the same spot he'd been yesterday.

Naruto almost beamed when he spotted him. He had to control the urge to get out to the surface and talk to him. After all, what was he supposed to say? "Hey, I saw you yesterday and thought you were just the most beautiful being I have ever laid my eyes on. Would you let me court you?" No, shit.

Besides, even if Naruto wanted to court him, shouldn't he befriend him first? … Maybe. And what did Naruto know about human's courting system, anyway?

Mermen and mermaids courting rules were pretty simple. If you had found the one you wanted to court, you started simple. Finding nice gifts was what most merpeople did when starting a courtship. It could be anything you'd think was likely to be accepted by your significant other. Shells, rocks, handmade necklaces, food… If the other person kept the gifts, it meant they accepted being courted.

Then, the gift giving custom could go on, but the next stage was spending time together and getting to know one another. After that, one of the two –usually the one who started the courtship– made a tail bracelet. It was like the most important and relevant part of the courtship, and it also meant the end of it. The bracelet is made of shells, pebbles, and anything you considered worth enough of your mate. Every single one of them was different, personalized. It was like a promise, it was valuable, it was precious.

If your significant other accepted the bracelet and started wearing it, it meant you were officially a couple. And merpeople mated for life, so it was a lifelong commitment.

So, courting someone you've just met wasn't out of the ordinary, since the courting process was done so they got to know the other better, but still. Naruto was doubtful. Maybe if it was another merman, he was interested in he wouldn't be hesitating to approach him, but the guy was human. Did humans even know about merpeople? He wasn't too sure. Usually, his people were cautious enough not to let beings from the lands catch a glimpse of them, but that didn't mean nobody knew about them.

How would the boy react if Naruto approached him directly? Would he be curious? Would he get scared? Would he panic? Would he try to hunt him down and sell him to other humans?

Sighing again, he watched the boy leave one more time.

Maybe he'd come back tomorrow. Who knows, maybe Naruto would be brave enough to do something about it.

The boy had the habit of coming to the beach every single day, Naruto discovered when he had been wandering this area for more than a week now.

Every day, he just sat there to watch the sunset, then disappeared until the next day.

What a strange routine, the blond merman thought. Although not as weird and creepy as coming up to the surface to watch the human like a freaking stalker. Naruto could admit it, he was acting dumb. Pretty dumb, actually.

But he couldn't help it. He wanted to be able to go to him, to talk to him, to get to know him. Would he even be able to talk to him? Would the human understand him? Humans spoke many languages, according to some rumors he'd heard, so there was a big chance the dark-haired boy wouldn't even be able to understand what he said.

"I'm so lame," he muttered lowly, watching the boy disappear once again after the sun had hidden, going to sleep to be ready to illuminate the next day.

He didn't even know what he was doing. Wasn't he supposed to go back and look for his pack? They must be worried sick; they had no way to know he was safe and sound.

But Naruto didn't want to leave. If he did, he would never see the dark-eyes human again. The mere thought of it hurt, it hurt like hell.

So, he really had fallen in love with a human, huh?

He was so screwed.

Three weeks after arriving to that beach after being separated from his family because of a storm, Naruto found himself determined to stop being a coward and do something about his situation about the pretty human already.

So, he wasn't really planning to stop by and say hello to him, but he had an idea.

He had learned the boy's routine, so he would be here around an hour before sunset. He had time enough.

The blond dedicated himself to explore the whole area, looking for something good enough to serve as a gift. A courting gift, if he dared to say.

He started small, though. After some time looking, he found some really pretty rocks, smooth on the surface thanks to the water, colorful and bright. They were perfect, he thought. So, he swam over to the beach and, taking a deep breath, started crawling over the sand. It was kind of uncomfortable, and the sand was so hot it almost burned his scales, but he coped with it. He left the rock on the place he knew the human would come to, far away enough from the water so the tide wouldn't pull them back into the sea. Then, he crawled back to the water, sighing in relief when he made contact with the chilly liquid again.

So, going around on the land as a merman wasn't fun. Yeah, he just learned that.

Naruto waited and waited for hours until the human made his appearance of the day. He watched as the boy walked steadily to his usual spot, coming to a halt when his eyes landed on the shiny, pretty rocks Naruto had left for him.

He saw the human squatting down, his hand reaching one of the rocks and taking it between his fingers, like he was analyzing it.

Naruto's heart galloped in his chest; his eyes open wide as he watched him. Disappointment burned in his stomach when he saw the boy putting the rock down and sitting next to them. He stayed to watch the sunset, then left, the rocks long forgotten.

Okay, so the guy didn't like the rocks, but Naruto wasn't about to give up just yet. He wasn't called a stubborn knucklehead for nothing.

He kept leaving his gifts in the place he knew the human would settle on. He tried giving him shells, some edible seaweed, more rocks, even some conch shells. And those were some big, beautiful conch shells. How had he not liked them?

Naruto didn't get it. Was there something wrong with his gifts? Or maybe the human really didn't know what they meant at all.

But he wasn't about to give up, no way. He kept leaving new gifts day after day, his will not wavering for even a second. The boy kept looking at his gifts, picking them up to inspect them more closely, and then putting them down again, not taking any single one of them with him when he left.

Did he actually not like Naruto's gifts at all?

Frowning, he swam around looking for his gift of the day. Today it'd be another conch shell, the prettiest one he'd found so far, slightly pink on the inside and pearl colored on the outside. It kind of reminded Naruto of the human's pale skin, so it was the perfect gift.

He got to the surface, knowing he still had some time before the boy arrived at the beach. He reached the shore and started crawling over the sand, feeling it stick to his arms, abdomen, and tail. The wind brushed his hair, drying it a bit, pushing it out of his face.

When he finally reached the spot he had aimed for, he put the shell down carefully. He stared at it for like a minute, wondering if this could be the one gift that was finally accepted by the human. Naruto really liked this shell, it was so well formed, so pretty. The sea snail that used to live in it must've been very happy, very lucky.

He shot the shell a final look, and decided it was time to go back to the ocean. But suddenly, he couldn't move, he was frozen. In front of him, just a couple of inches away from the shell, a pair of bare feet appeared, as pale as the color of his gift.

The blond swallowed.

When he lifted his head, two intense onyx eyes were looking right straight at him.

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A/N: Hi, people!

So, this is the second story I've written entirely in English, not a translation of one of my previous stories. It'll have two more chapters. The second is a continuation of this one, and the third will be from Sasuke's POV.

I apologize if there were some weird mistakes here. English is not my first language and I'm really trying to improve.

Hope you guys liked this story!

It was inspired by a story named "Azul" I read on Wattpad, written by tabla-chan777. It's in Spanish, though.

See you in the next chapter!

PD. Buy me a coffee! You'll be helping me raise funds to afford my cataract surgery and getting my eyes fixed. Follow the link: ko-fi dot com /furikakelover

Just replace the word dot for an actual dot and erase the spaces.