Sakura has always hated the story about the little mermaid. When her mother first reads it to her at the age of three, she cries and refuses to be consoled.

It wasn't fair, she told herself.

Why did everything for the poor little mermaid have to go so wrong? She did everything she could to win the prince's heart. She gave up being with her family. She let her tongue get cut out for a pair of legs and feet that always hurt. In the end, she gave up her very life. All for the chance to be with him. All for just a chance.

It wasn't fair, she told herself.

Why couldn't the little mermaid get what she'd been striving for, when she'd worked so hard to do all of the right things?

Times passes, and Sakura grows up a little bit. The next time she thinks back to the little mermaid is in her bed the first day after Sasuke leaves the village, caught somewhere between half awake and somewhat asleep.

It wasn't really fair, but...

She can't help but think that maybe, just maybe, it was sort of silly for the little mermaid to try and do what she did. The prince was human. She was a mermaid. They were from two completely different worlds...how was that ever supposed to work out in the long run? At this point, her wandering mind stumbles upon a sad thought.

How much different was she from the little mermaid, especially when it came to Sasuke?

It really wasn't fair, but...

Sakura doesn't remember these thoughts when she wakes. She knows she should remember something important, something that she realized the night before. But try as she might, she just can't recall what that important something was.

More time passes, and Sakura grows up completely. The next time the story of the little mermaid comes to mind is in her hospital bed, with the news that Sasuke had gotten away again and that he himself had given her the deep wound in her side still fresh in her mind.

It was fair, she finally admits to herself.

The little mermaid should have expected that so much would go wrong when she tried to obtain something she should have never even hoped for. It hadn't been her right, to dream of a place beyond her aquatic home. It hadn't been her right to long after someone who was so obviously never going to be hers. It hadn't been her right.

It was fair, she finally admits to herself.

She and Sasuke had always been from two different worlds, hadn't they? His life had been tainted with a deep need for revenge that she found herself, at times, calling detrimental and borderline ridiculous. Her life had, for the most part, been filled with a sweet simplicity that he would have simply called moronic. They were from two different worlds, two utterly different states of mind. Honestly, Sakura begins to ponder to herself, how had she not seen that all of it was only ever going to end in some sort of tragedy?

Sakura dies that day, finally realizing just how very similar she and the little mermaid of her old fairytale book are.

"It was fair..." are the last things she ever says.

Because she was the real life little mermaid, and she should have seen how her story was going to end.

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No, if you haven't noticed yet, this is not about the Disney version of "The Little Mermaid". While I love (and still love) that version of the tale, Anderson's original story has always struck a cord with me, even as a young kid.

Do I know if the Naruto universe has classic (but sad) fairy tales? No. Do I think they probably do? Yes. Am I using this assumption for this particular fic? Definitely.