Once I sat upon a

promontory,

And heard a mermaid on a

dolphin's back

uttering such dulcet and

harmonious breath,

That the rude sea grew civil

at her song,

And certain stars shot

madly from their spheres

To hear the sea-maid's

music.

- William Shakespeare

His eyes were like the ocean bright blue that held so much life in them; so it was ironic that he despised the ocean, he despised the color, he despised the wild life in it, and he despised the gentle waves that turned violent... the waves that reminded him so much of himself. He truly did despise everything about the ocean. Naruto knew he was better than being a pity fisherman, a fisherman that could barely make ends meet, and a fisherman who couldn't even feed himself most of the times. This was never his dream, but then again dreams were for children and dreams never came true.

A deep voice dragged the blonde out his self-pity, "Naruto! Come help me!" Naruto turned his head to see his stoic dark haired friend struggling with the catching net. He quickly ran to go help his friend pull the net in. After a few minutes of struggling the two young men pulled the net in. Realizing their grips letting the fish flop around the boat. Naruto's ocean blue eyes scanned for any sign of lobster silently cursing as he realized that the batch they had caught was a fail.

Sasuke watched his friend turn red with anger, "Calm down dobe."

"How the fuck can I calm down? Everyday it's the same thing we wake up at four am and go fishing and we wait for hours and hours until we finally catch enough to drag in the damn boat only to find out we wasted our damn time!"

Sasuke sighed and cursed the government for bumping the price of lobster up. They deemed that every fishermen catch at least one lobster and Naruto and Sasuke seemed to be cursed because they hadn't caught one this whole week making them fear that they would lose their jobs.

"So what else is pissing you off? I always thought you were the optimistic one."

Naruto sighed as walked back to the edge of the boat staring at the sun that was setting, "Don't you ever think that we're better than this?"

Sasuke scoffed, "I don't think… I know I'm better than this, not so sure about you though."

Naruto ignored his friend barb, "It's frustrating Sasuke, I'm sick of this life. I want something better."

"Naruto. You know we're stuck being like this, we can't find anyone who will hire us not after our past."

He nodded knowing that their childhoods had been tinted, but it was their teenage years that had marred their reputations beyond repair, "Yeah...Wishful thinking I guess."

Sasuke sighed, "At this rate, we'll be homeless." Naruto had already lost his home requiring him to live with Sasuke, but Sasuke was in danger of losing his home too. He had hoped that with Naruto's help they could pay rent with ease but that damn landlord Orochimaru had deemed that rent would double since two people lived in the house. Sasuke had tried his best to tell Naruto that he couldn't live with him anymore but it was difficult, Naruto was like his brother and throwing him out pained him; even if he wasn't an emotional person.

"Naruto, can we talk about something?"

Naruto smirked, "What's up Sasu-kun you breaking up with me?" He bellowed out a laugh making Sasuke roll his eyes, "I'm serious dobe, this is serious."

Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes and stopped laughing, "Fine, what's up teme?"

Sasuke tried finding the right words to use but he was having trouble, "Naruto, rent is getting hard to pay." Naruto scoffed, "Tell me about it, maybe you can sleep with Orochimaru, I think he has a thing for you." Naruto bellowed out another laugh. Sasuke had hit his limit, "Naruto you can't live with me anymore."

A sad smile graced Naruto's handsome tan face, "So you are breaking up with me?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't afford the rent and I can't-"

Naruto cut Sasuke's sentence short, "No I get it, really it's cool I'll live on the boat ya know till I can afford to live some place." He shot his dark haired friend his trademark smile, but Sasuke knew it wasn't a real smile.

No other words were exchanged when the medium sized boat made its way to the dock, Sasuke gathered his things and stepped off the boat and said "Hey, with some luck you may catch a mermaid." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto snorted, "Ya luck."

It was legend among fishermen that mermaids lurked the ocean they were beautiful creatures who would draw a man with her looks and drown him in but if she fell in love with him she would make him a merman, the other half of the tale is that if the man can make the mermaid fall in love with him, trick and capture her you would get one hundred million Ryo's, but mermaids were a legend, a fairytale to keep the fishermen dreaming.

Naruto sighed as he leaned on the edge of the boat hanging his elbows on the edge gazing at the soft waves of the ocean, its color illuminating the dark sky, its tail and head...Wait what!? Head and tail? Naruto rubbed his eyes to make sure that he saw correctly, but as quick as he saw the image, it had come and gone. Naruto stood their dumbfounded until he scoffed, "Stupid teme and his mermaid talk."

Hinata mentally slapped herself for being spotted she shouldn't have gotten so close, but at least he had noticed her. Hinata let a blush dust her beautiful face, he was so handsome his blonde bright hair, and his sun kissed skin, his bright ocean blue eyes. He finally looked at her, albeit he looked shocked and she was sure he had said something about seeing things, but he still noticed her; his ocean blue eyes had noticed her. Her heart swelled with happiness.

"Hinata-sama what are you doing?" Her cousin's deep voice soon dragged her out of her euphoria.

"N-nothing Nii-san." She looked like a child who had just been caught stealing sea shells.

"You were looking at that human again weren't you?" Her silence was the deafening answer; he shook his head, "Hinata-sama if your father caught you looking at that human… think of what he would say."

Hinata sighed her father hated humans; he despised them since they were responsible for her mother's death. Hinata could remember that pointy thing entering her mother's body, she could remember the blood that filled the ocean, the smell, and she could remember everyone grabbing her body off the pointy thing. Yes… her father had every right to hate them and he hated any mermaid or merman who traded their life for a human.

One of her best friends Temari had traded her life for a human named Shikamaru, Hinata didn't understand what her friend saw in him, he was lazy and deemed everything troublesome, but she loved him.

Hinata's father had called Temari a whore for leaving her family and mermaid life for a human, unfortunately in the ocean life a mermaid who left life for a human was labeled a whore. It was rare that a mermaid would fall in love with humans; they tried to keep their distance from them knowing that they were murders to fish, so any mermaid who showed a human the mer-people's villages would be labeled a traitor. Unfortunately Temari was labeled both she had never showed Shikamaru any of the villages but she did tell him too much for a human to know.

"I know Nii-san, but he's so gorgeous I just want to talk to him."

Neji shook his head, "Hinata you are a princess you are better them some human. Do you know what they do to women up there?" Hinata nodded it was well known in the ocean that human men were cruel, unforgiving they feed on pretty girls. They were possessive men, mermaids had multiple mates and in rare cases a mermaid and a merman would stay together forever only if they were important people; but it was normal for a mermaid to have more than one merman and vice versa. Hinata heard that a human woman was only allowed one man in her whole life but yet men could have multiple human women, how oppressive must those human men be.

"But, Nii-san he isn't like that."

"How do you know Hinata-sama?" He watched as his cousin swim towards a rock and sat on it examining her lavender tail, "I don't know Nii-san, I can just tell."

Neji rolled his eyes, "Hinata stop being a mer-child." He started to swim away until he remembered why he had been looking for his cousin in the first place," Ah yes… Kiba is asking for you."

Hinata perked up as she heard the name of her best friend swimming to the part of the ocean that was connected to the forest. As she neared she saw the tongue of her friend as he drank from the ocean. Giggling she decided to play a joke on her friend. Looking on the ocean floor she spotted a small crab prying it's claws open she slowly neared the crabs claw close to her friends tongue she giggle once more releasing the crabs claw on her friends poor tongue.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Hinata popped her head out to see her friend running back and forth on his four legs, his dark black tail waving frantically behind him, screaming as the claw of the crab stayed in place on his tongue. Kiba seeing his mischievous friend laughing her head off growled at her, "Hinata-chan take this thing off of me!"

Hinata complied propping herself on land as she told Kiba to come near her as she whispered soothing words into the crabs ears making the small grab release his grip.

When Hinata set the crab back into see and faced Kiba she noted the angry look on his face, "Oh, come on Kiba-kun it was funny!"

"No, it was painful!"

Hinata giggled again, "You're no fun!"

Hinata was a naturally shy mermaid unlike how a mermaid should be flirtatious, bubbly, and loud but she was comfortable around Kiba they had known each other since she was 4, "What took you so long?" Kiba asked his friend.

"N-nothing." Her stutter told Kiba she was hiding something and he knew what it was, it was that damned human. She had been stalking him for months now!

"Dammit Hinata, I thought I told you on stop staring at that human! They are nothing but trouble!"

Hinata groaned first Nii-san now Kiba-kun she didn't reply to her friend she simply flipped her tail in and out of the ocean, "I wish I was human, Kiba-kun."

"What!? Hinata you can't be serious!"

Hinata pouted, "I am serious Kiba-kun! Think of how amazing it would be to be a human? To roam free on feet."

"But they aren't free Hinata! They are owned and possessed, the women by the men and the men by the- um, what is it called… Oh! Government! Hinata-chan you really need to get your brain checked, really you don' see what I see."

Hinata scoffed, "Kiba you don't even see anything you're always too busy guarding hell!"

"Yeah, but I know what kind of humans enter hell."

Kiba was the head hell hound for guarding hell. He always told her scary stories of these people called rapists, murders, pedophiles, and molesters, they sounded cruel unforgiving people.

He had a point but still Hinata could feel like he was different, he looked so gentle; he looked so kind and sweet. She just wanted to talk to him; she just wanted to touch his hair, to stare into his bright ocean blue eyes.

"What's with all the shouting?" Kiba and Hinata looked on the ground to see a small beetle.

"Shino! Please talk to your friend! She's lost her mind." Kiba pleaded to his friend.

"Why? What's the matter?" Sino questioned.

"She says she wants to be human."

Shino stared at Hinata waiting for her to deny it but she didn't. He went to Hinata hand letting his small feet crawl on her hand, "Lift." Hinata rolled her pearl eyes lifting her hand to eye level.

"Hinata, this human will just use you and throw you in the gutter, just like Yumi did with me."

Hinata flinched she remembered Yumi, the beautiful blonde brown eyed human beauty that Shino fell in love with. Land creatures had a human form and Shino's human form was drop dead gorgeous. Literally, Shino had to cover his face in his human form; Yumi seemed to be okay with that they were together for 2 years, until Yumi decided to never show up again. Shino went looking for her when he went to ask several humans where she was they told him she had been married to a prince.

Shino had been heartbroken ever since then deeming humans trash.

Hinata set Shino on the ground looking at the full illuminating moon, maybe they were right maybe she was losing her mind, but she couldn't help it. She needed to see him, she needed to hear his voice, and even if he was like how everyone described humans she needed to be a part of his world.

This was inspired by a drawing and by my days spent watching Disney movies so we can all tell this was inspired by the little mermaid and it will have my touch on it. Also all of Hinata's friends will be mythical monsters or creatures like Kiba is a hellhound and Shino is my own creation called a Sutmu

Pretty much, Suteki is a word for handsome and Mushi for bug so that's where I got Sutmu from. Legend of Shino is that he can go into people's dreams he will lure them in with pleasant dream and kill them; but for creatures of the land and sea a Sutmu is just a giver of dreams and does not kill humans.