Coral Crown

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Or the Little Mermaid.

A/N: This was inspired by the Little Mermaid. Duh. However, it's also different.

Important Note: Humans cannot understand the animals. Mer-people can. Also understand that until the point where Sakura meets the boys, she and the other are indeed speaking English. I do plan to explain this. However, Atlantian will also be spoken at times. It sounds like this…

How we would hear it: "Tel em og, uoy diputs hself gab!"

What it means to Sakura: "Let me go, you stupid flesh bag!"

It is backwards speak. Ti si sdrawkcab kaeps. Understand?

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I scanned the sea anemone below me, smiling as a few clown fish darted between the beautiful colors of the sea floor. I allowed my vibrant red tail to sweep across the smooth, white sand. I let out a small giggle as the sand swirled up, and slowly settled back down. My long pink hair swirled around wildly, and I spotted a large sea turtle swimming through the clear water.

I darted forward, grabbing onto his large, glossy shell, "Skimmer, how're you doing? Going to meet your wife and kids?"

"You bet!" Skimmer let out a guffaw as he turned his head, resting a crinkled, old brown eye on me. "I'm going to meet them right now. It's a special day, Miss. Don't you have somewhere to be? I'll see you at the celebration."

"You bet she does!" There was a loud laugh, and I turned to face my friend and partner in crime, Suigetsu. He gave a toothy grin, as his light blue hair fluttered with the water's flow, "It's a special day, Sakura. Shouldn't you be off preparing?"

Suigetsu was the son of Captain Kisame, leader of the royal guard. My royal guard, to be exact. As such, we've known each other since we were only little guppy sized mer-kids.

I sighed dramatically, letting go of Skimmer, "Aw, Suigetsu, I don't want to think about it! I don't even want to marry him, and you know that!" Skimmer swam off after giving me a little wave.

His grin disappeared as he wrapped an arm around my waist, "I know that, Sakura. You should be marrying me. Not that royal prick."

I wriggled out of his grip, wagging a playful finger, "Hey, I'm a taken woman, you pervert. I mean, it was an arranged marriage, but it's still a marriage. Legally binding and all that. Besides, he's not so bad. Kind of stuffy, yes, but otherwise he's the perfect gentleman. Plus, I'll be related to Hinata!"

Suigetsu rolled his eyes, crossing his arms then, "Fine. Speaking of Hinata, all your bridesmaids are looking for you. Go put on your wedding veil already."

"Yeah, yeah," I huffed, "I get it. It's not my wedding day every day, so I should be happy, blah blah blah."

"I think Ino is more excited about being a maid of honor than you are about being a bride." Suigetsu smiled, turning and flittering his violet tail.

"You got that right," I sighed exasperatedly, "She's not letting any of us eat anything fun. I practically have to live off of seaweed salad."

"Aw, my poor Sakura," Suigetsu stuck out his tongue.

"Suigetsu!" A deep voice snapped, "Do not address Her Highness in such a familiar manner."

I turned to see Captain Kisame, Suigetsu's father and captain of—Eh, you already know. Anyway, his skin was blue, although his tale was a few shades darker. His eyes were a bright yellow. Although he may seem frightening at first, he was really only a loud, goofy drunkard.

"Hello, Kisame," I waved cheerily, "Do not worry. His tone of familiarity does not insult me."

"If it pleases your highness, call me Captain," His beige, Atlantian armor shimmered slightly. If a human looked from their boat, they might see the deep down shimmer of his helmet, and the quickest flash of his blue fins. They might see my pink hair and assume I was a colorful plant of some sort. We were too far below the surface for any of them to distinguish our features, aside from a few strange, shimmering bright colors in the water that weren't there a few moments before.

Oh. In case you haven't guessed it by now, I'm a mermaid. Suigetsu and Kisame are mermen. Duh.

With a playful wave, I headed towards the deeper and darker water, where the humans above would never see me. I sighed, as my pink hair swept behind me. You're probably wondering about Suigetsu and I. We're just friends. I mean, he has a little bit of a crush on me, but… I've known him too long, you know what I mean?

Besides, I've been engaged to Neji Hyuuga, Hinata's cousin, since the day I was born. He's a year older than me, and he's nice enough. He has these pearl eyes that make you want to melt when he just stares at you. He has beautiful, long brown hair that's even prettier than my own—I'd never admit that, of course. I was a princess, after all.

I came across the sunken ship my friends and I agreed to meet at earlier this morning. We'd snooped around here for years. It was an old, elegant ship in the pirate style.

I ran my fingers along the seaweed laced edge, rubbing the grime away. I turned and slipped through one of the open holes, where we had upturned an old cannon so that we could slip through.

"Sakura," A voice shouted from the end of the hall. I turned, my tail sweeping along the musty, long rectangle of old red carpet. I spotted Ino, my maid of honor. Her long, blonde ponytail waved freely is the water, and her pastel blue eyes shimmered brightly, matching her tail. She crossed her arms over her chest, "You're late!"

"I know," I sighed dramatically, "But I'm afraid that I was lost on the path of life!"

Hinata, another one of my bridesmaids, peeked out form an open door, "D-don't lie, Sakura. You w-were g-goofing off…" Her short, indigo hair was closely cropped. She didn't like having long hair—it interfered when she swam. She had pearl colored eyes, like her cousin Neji. Her indigo tail flickered indignantly.

"Same thing," I smiled brightly, "but it's my wedding day—I'll do what I want! I love this ship, let's go explore."

I liked this ship a lot. The soldiers clear out the skeletons after a time—We don't like the pollution in our ocean. Now, we were free to roam it as we liked. It was a pirate ship, full of stolen treasure and beautiful things. It was my favorite place.

I darted into what was once the captain's room, as I had done a thousand times before. I lived here more than I lived at the palace, to be honest. I ran my hands through a large, porcelain bowl full of various pretty things I had collected from the ship. I was usually the only one that came here, but today was special so I agreed to allow my friends to meet me here.

Karin entered, adjusting her glasses. Her long red hair wavered, wavy on one side and straight on the other, as she entered the room. She gave a half smile and said, "Here comes the bride."

I let out a small giggle, "It's not every day a Caribbean mermaid princess marries an Atlantic Merman Prince, you know. I'll get to the palace eventually. The wedding isn't right now anyway. It's tonight. Let me celebrate my last day of freedom!"

Ino rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Marrying a prince—you poor, underprivileged child. Cry me a river."

"Ooh," Karin gave a charming smile, "Let's play a bridesmaid game. Up by Atlantis, it's a common bride ritual; it's like a bravery test."

I perked up, interested, "I'm curious. What kind of game?"

"S-Sakura, remember, c-curiosity k-killed the catfish." Hinata piped up.

I smiled brightly, "Yeah, but I'm a mermaid, not a catfish. So tell me, what's the game?"

"Okay," Karin glanced around, "You just have to touch the bottom of a working human ship. Easy, right?"

Ino spoke up, "I don't know, Sakura, maybe it's not smart. Humans could see you. Your father would be mad."

"Oh, don't be a guppy," I smiled brightly, swimming out of the room and squeezing through a porthole, "It's just the bottom of the boat!" I sped forward, the girls following behind.

It wasn't too long before I saw the bottom of a white boat. I smiled. It was a rich person's boat, so there wouldn't be fishing nets. I darted to the bottom, running my hand along it. I noticed schools of fish around me and I smiled. I turned, searching for approval from the girls.

That's when I noticed the thin, beige chords camouflaged amongst the sand. The net began to rise. My smile disappeared.

Oh shit.

I flicked my tail, but it was too late. The rope walls had risen around me. My fate was sealed. My coral crown fell, slipping between the steadily closing holes in the net.

I clung to the thin holes, and the smallest of the fish darted through the holes. Ino attacked the net from the other side, her nails clawing at the rope.

"Ino," I shouted, "I'm trapped! It's no use!"

Hinata reached in, grabbing my hand, "No! Sakura!"

"Go!" I shouted, "Get my father!" Reluctantly, they released me and sped off towards the castle. The net was tightening, and the fish were thrashing around me. I could no longer fit my arms through the tight slits in the rope, and the top of the net hit the surface. Through the small net slivers, I watched my two bridesmaids retreat towards the castle. That's when I saw it.

Karin smiled at me. That's when I knew.

I clawed into the net, hissing, "You evil sea witch! Bull shark! I'll have your head, you slimy eel! You planned this! Karin, why?"

The top of the net breached the surface. The fish around me desperately flopped around. I was getting pretty desperate myself. I knew they didn't have a chance of hearing me, but that didn't stop me from crying out.

"Father! Kisame! Suigetsu, help me!"

The top of my head hit the air, and I sucked in a deep breath. I knew what was going to happen the minute I was completely out of the water.

My face rose above, and I grimaced as the blistering sun wrapped my fragile skin in its heat. I felt my pink hair beginning to frizzle, as the water quickly evaporated from my hair. I attempted to hide myself under the water, but I couldn't pry the fat fish. They were all busy screaming and crying and wishing this hadn't happened. Sure enough, soon my torso was out of the water, my rapidly drying hair turning to long waves of pink, draping over my chest.

My emerald eyes filled with water at the sight of the sea below me, and I cried out in despair, "I'm leaking! Water's leaking from my eyes," I sniffled, "What's happening?"

As my tail began to rise out of the water, and I was forced into sitting on top of the mounds of flapping fish by the above world's gravity, I noticed something horrible. My scales were beginning to recede.

"No!" My eyes widened as the tail parted, revealing the two limbs that humans would call their legs. I grabbed one as I felt new arteries pumping blood into these strange new limbs, "No! My tail!"

"Whoa," A loud voice shouted, "Sasuke, there's a naked girl in your fishing net!" My head snapped to the upper right, and there was a boy with blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes looking down at me. He smiled brightly, "Hey, are you okay down there? I'm Naruto!"

So people in the above world spoke English as well. I looked up, wide eyed, and the net slowly came to that halt parallel to the deck of their boat. I sat in a stunned, silent stupor as Naruto—that's what he said his name was, grabbed a knife and returned to the net that I was trapped in.

I gulped, "Don't eat me! I promise, I taste horrible!"

He gave me a funny look, "Why would I eat you? We have to get you out of there, so you can explain why you were in the ocean, swimming naked." He cut the rope, and I—along with half of the flopping fish—fell onto the wooden deck.

Naturally, as soon as I regained my breath, I bolted for the edge. Unfortunately, a pair of arms wrapped around my stomach, and we both fell to the floor. I snarled, kicking with my new legs and digging my nails into my assailants arm.

"Naruto!" My assailant cried out, "Why am I wrestling a naked woman that you caught in a fishing net to stop her from committing suicide by jumping into the water?"

"Tel em og, uoy diputs hself gab," I desperately tried to wriggle out of his strong grasp, transferring to my native language of Atlantian under the pressure and surprise of the situation, "I lliw deef uoy ot eht skrahs dna hctaw meht elbbin no ruoy senob! Latrom! Namuh!"

"Sasuke, what the hell is she saying?" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke, my attacker, shouted back, "I don't know, Dobe! Help me get her into the cabin. And get her some damn clothes before the Coast Guard thinks we're raping her!"

Naruto and Sasuke dragged me below the deck, while I continued to thrash and release strings of curses in Atlantian.

In the middle of the hall, a door opened revealing a young man, who dropped his book in surprise, "What the hell, Sasuke? Were you kidnapping islanders while I read through my college studies?"

"We caught her in the fishing net. Then she tried to jump back into the ocean, and started yelling gibberish." Naruto piped up innocently, as Sasuke grunted in agreement.

"Put me back in the ocean!" I shouted loudly, enunciating and hoping they'd understand. I was fluent in English, but I was panicking now. The meaning of the words escaped me, but I think I'm right, "I want to go home!"

"If they put you back in the ocean, you'll drown. I'm Itachi, Sasuke's older brother." Itachi raised a nonchalant eyebrow, "Sasuke, you should probably find her some clothes before—"

"Whoa," A deep voice mumbled, giving a low whistle, "Nice rack."

"Hidan," Itachi sighed, "Shut up."

I hissed dramatically, "Drown in the sea, you filthy flesh bag."

I couldn't contact home. I realized this with a bitter grimace. I had lost my crown, and now I had no way of using it to contact my father. I was trapped on this ship—I had to escape, but even I couldn't muscle my way through multiple humans, and I was nearly powerless without my crown. My abilities would be cut down by nearly half.

I wouldn't be stuck here right now if I hadn't lost that little coral crown.

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A/N: So… I know I said I was going to update something on the thirteenth. I was. I really was. Unfortunately, I was hit by a car. A Ferrari, to be exact. It now has a very nice dent in it. My leg, along with a rib, is broken. Aside from that, I only have some cuts and bruises. The painkillers make me kind of loopy—I evidently yelled at my fish, ceiling, and siblings.

Well, I haven't updated because my computer is at my friend's house. She didn't bring it today, but she promised to bring it by tomorrow. She's been working, and hasn't had time to bring it to me until now. Her mother is out of town, and my asshole brothers won't go get it for me—Although I shouldn't complain. They get me ice cream. Yum.

So yes. The updates are finished, I just don't have them with me. So, to make it up to you, I took my brother's computer and wrote this.

Review, please! : ) I apologize for any errors. I asked my younger sister to check this—I'm kind of high on pain killers. She said I did fine, except for a few errors. Anyway, don't pity me. I'll be fine. I'm just gonna sleep.

So, yeah. Review! : )

GC