A/N: Well, considering the fact that I kinda lost interest in my previous story, I decided I'd go ahead and do this one instead and come back to the other one later. So yeah...

Warnings: There will be future Sasunaru in chapters, but for now the material is relatively mild. Again, rating will probably go up in the future if I even decide to continue this. Depends on my mood.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor will I ever. I'm not even close to being rich and powerful enough to do that.

A Merman's Love

By: Supporter of Free Love

The moment I saw her, I knew she was the one for me. The way she stood proudly at the bow of the ship, short pink hair flying in the wind, green emerald eyes shining brightly in the sunlight. The way her golden dress of silk glimmered with each ray of light bouncing off of its surface. She was truly beautiful.

I moved from my spot and edged closer to where the ship was in the water, closer to my newfound love. I just had to learn the name of such a beautiful creature, you know. Soon, I reached a spot where I could both see and hear her, without her seeing me.

She and another pretty girl (although not as pretty as my pink-haired love) with platinum blonde hair were engaged in conversation with who I assumed was the captain of the ship. He had such pale, alabaster skin, which contracted with his raven black hair and dark eyes. I found myself angered as I listened in to their conversation.

"So Sasuke," my love said, "I hear you've been promoted to captain of the royal navy. That is a mighty feat you've accomplished." Here she giggled, a sound which I found most amazing.

"Hnn," was this Sasuke guy's response, which ticked me off to no end. How could he not be enchanted by this? My focus was instantly drawn away as the blonde haired girl spoke.

"Sakura, why don't you just go away! Don't you see that Sasuke is obviously uninterested in you? Sasuke would rather spend time with me." Here she turned to him. "Right, Sasuke? Why don't you tell Sakura here to leave us alone?" She asked, batting her long lashes at him.

Here my love Sakura, which I instantly assumed was her name, pushed the other girl aside roughly. "Don't be assuming things, Ino-pig. I know Sasuke would rather spend his time with ME, since we connect on a more intellectual level than you ever will," she demanded, grabbing Sasuke's arm, leaving "Ino-pig" steaming.

With what sounded like barely controlled anger, Ino latched onto Sasuke's other arm, sending a ferocious glare over in Sakura's direction. "Well, although you have a very valid point, fore-head girl, I would assume that Sasuke would rather spend time with a beauty of my stature." Here she sent a vindictive smirk at Sakura. "Not some pre-teen wannabe who wants to pretend that she's a woman."

Damn…even I could feel all the evil tension from my hiding spot. Sakura and Ino were now having a stare-off of some sort, until Sakura blurted out, "Well, atleast I don't go stuffing my bra with tissue paper!" Here Ino gasped, deeply offended. So offended that she let go of her death grip on Sasuke.

"How dare you! You know that's a lie! If anyone stuffs their bra here, it's you!!"

Now Sakura had let go of her own death grip on Sasuke's arm herself to face Ino. "Take…that…back…" she said threateningly, making the air feel as if though it had an electrical charge.

But either Ino didn't seem to notice, or maybe she didn't care, for she stepped up to the challenge by coming nose to nose with Sakura. The freaky air seemed to double at this point. The raven-haired man also seemed to have noticed this, for he began to back out of their as fast as possible. So fast that if I hadn't been listening in on their conversation, I would never have imagined he was their to begin with.

Ino and Sakura still stood there, viciously staring at each other. I stayed frozen in my spot out of curiousity, wondering what would happen. The shit finally hit the fan when Ino finally sneered out, "Never will I take back what I said."

What happened next could only be described as carnal. Before I could count to three, Sakura had slapped Ino across the face with a loud resounding smack. Ino looked stunned for only a moment, until fiercely slapping her back. After that was a blur. They both had attacked one another, and were rolling around on the ship tugging on each others hair, scratching and biting at each other whenever the opportunity arose.

Would it be weird if I said that this fight only made Sakura more beautiful in my eyes?

The fight was finally stopped when some mysterious, freaky man with a mask covering his face all but one eye grabbed both of them by the gowns and separated them.

"Now tsk tsk, ladies. What was the point of going to manner's school if you can't stop fighting over Sasuke every second you can?" He asked in a joking manner. I swore that this man was smiling, even though it was covered by his mask. "Besides, I thought you were the best of friends?"

By now, both Sakura and Ino looked ashamed of their behavior. Not to mention embarrassed. Sakura had turned the most adorable shade of pink worthy of her hair, while Ino refused to meet anyone's eyes.

"Now, apologize to the people on the ship for disturbing the peace," the weird masked guy said. Then as a second thought, he added, "And you should probably apologize to Captain Sasuke as well, for putting him in this uncomfortable position."

Then together, with both their heads bowed, they curtsied, saying out in unison, "We're sorry every one. We apologize for our misbehavior. It won't happen again." Then they turned to Sasuke, both of them giving them a more sincere look. "And we're really sorry, Captian Sasuke. We never meant to cause you any embarrassment."

"Aw," I couldn't help but think. How can you not forgive Sakura for that, Sasuke? She's so cute. But apparently Sasuke didn't think so, for throughout the whole ordeal it seemed as though he'd rather be anywhere but there. He didn't even say anything. All he said was "Hnn." By now I was wondering whether or not this guy knew how to speak at all.

But how dare that bastard steal the affection of the most beautiful Sakura! Obviously Sasuke wasn't man enough for her affections, and he was most definitely not worthy for her love. I swore right then and there that I would do anything to have the love of Lady Sakura.

I only had a few problems. One: I was assuming that Sakura was a lady of noble birth. By her standards, I probably wouldn't be even worthy of being in the same room as her.

Two: That bastard Sasuke seems to have somehow stolen Sakura's heart. I hate to say it, but with him in the way, Sakura would never be able to love me fully. He would distract her from me, and that would not do what-so-ever.

I was startled out of my thoughts when I finally noticed the sun setting. Shit! Was it that late already? I would be in so much trouble if I didn't arrive back home in time. Letting go of the ledge that I'd been holding on to from the beginning, I plunged into the warm, inviting water, staying under for a bit to breathe in the fresh water into my gills.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I was also a merman? That little fact must have slipped my mind.

Coming up just one last time, I watched the ship sail away from me, towards the island that I could faintly see into the distance. Waving a goodbye that I knew no one would see, I again dove beneath the water, my flipper propelling me to the reefy bottom towards home.

Unknown to Naruto Uzumaki, someone had witnessed that goodbye from the ship. And if Naruto would've stayed up for a little bit longer, he would've seen a man with dark hair and eyes returning his wave.

A/N: So, is this fic worth continuing?? Review and tell me what you think!! -