☁️⛅🌤️
Naruto had been moping the moment Hinata swam through the portal. He had passed his exams, barely. But he tried his best for Hinata. She hadn't come home in nearly three weeks and he knew that if she hadn't come back now, she wasn't going to.
In turn, he avoided Sasuke. Sasuke could go into the ocean and explain everything or at least go get Hinata but he was being selfish. The moment his exams finished, he packed a bag and drove home. He didn't want to be alone in his dorm and wait.
"Are you not going to tell me why you're being so mopey?" his mother asked and she kicked his feet off the couch to make room for her. "You hardly ever come early for holidays, what's up?"
Naruto sighed. He didn't want to let his mother know he had fallen in love with a mermaid or any part of that side of his life.
"Just..." he hesitated before looking over at his mother. "Can you like... do the mom thing?"
Kushina let out an airy laugh and moved her hair to the side and opened her arms. Naruto sluggishly moved into his mother's embrace, a little embarrassed, but comforted nonetheless.
He wrapped his own arms around a throw cushion and laid his head on her lap while she combed her fingers through his hair. "You're twenty-one years old, Naruto." The redhead remarked snarkily.
The blond finally let a out a bit of laughter. "And you're like a hundred, be grateful you have such a loving son."
He winced when she yanked his ear but steadily calmed down as she continued to rake through his hair. He watched his father come into the living room and give them a warm smile.
"Aww," Minato cooed at his wife and son. "When you were little-"
Naruto's cell phone rang and he saw that it was Sasuke. He let out a pitiful sigh which caused his mother to snort but he just hung up.
"Who was it?" Minato asked once he sat in their recliner.
"Sasuke-kun," Kushina answered before Naruto himself could. "Why'd you hang up? Are you guys fighting or something?"
The blond grimaced. "Or something."
Kushina and Minato shared a look while Naruto fiddled with his phone before turning it off. Minato untied his apron and laid it across the arm of the sofa.
"Naruto," he started. "Are you guys fighting over a girl?"
The younger widened his eyes but then quickly avoided their questioning glare. He knew he couldn't avoid their interrogations, especially not if they were working together. Mom was bad cop and dad was good cop. And after twenty-one years under their care, you'd think he'd know how to get out of it. But here he is now.
"I mean..." he sunk further into the couch. "I guess you could say th–"
"Naruto Uzumaki!" Kushina yelled and kicked his hip. He yelped and leapt from sofa to recliner and onto his dad's lap. "You're going after Sakura-chan?!" She yelled once more and then stood.
"What?!" Naruto exclaimed and winced when his mother threw a cushion at him. He curled around Minato's shoulder and tried to shield himself from his mother's wrath.
"Of course not!" He shouted back. "Sakura and Sasuke are practically married! It's... it's about.." the room began to blur and there was a humming in his ear. "Oh my god."
Kushina went from absolutely enraged to concerned in a split second.
"Naruto?" Minato turned to face his son. "What's wrong?"
The hum only grew louder and he quickly stood up and took a second to ground himself. "I have to go."
He ran to the door and pulled his coat off the rack and slipped on his boots then quickly laced them. He wasn't going to make her wait a second longer than he needed to.
"Go where? It's the middle of the night." Kushina scoffed. "Bub, where are you–"
Naruto turned around while quickly wrapping a scarf around his neck. "I'm gonna bring a girl home. You can't talk to her until tomorrow. I know I'm being weird but she's going through a lot. Please, please, don't question it."
The redhead quirked a brow and opened her mouth to object but Minato quickly clapped his hand over it. "Sure, you're old enough to have some semblance of privacy. "
Naruto kissed both of their cheeks before swiping his keys and running out of the door.
Minato finally removed his hand and looked down at his wife. "You really thought licking my hand would make me move?"
She just pouted and turned.
☁️⛅🌤️
It had taken him nearly and hour to drive from his house all the way to the park near his campus. All the snow and ice on the road slowed him down and as much as he wanted to see Hinata, he needed to be in one piece to get to her.
The car door slammed shut behind him and the car chirped once Naruto pressed the lock button. With every step the snow crunched loudly beneath his feet. He was definitely underdressed, clothing much too thin, but he couldn't care any less that he already did. But that didn't mean he wasn't shivering with each step and already losing feeling in his fingertips.
Naruto thought he would never feel that pull again. The pull of his Hinata calling him. He trudged through the thick of the naked trees in the woods and tried to just follow his heart to her but the closer he got, the more he felt disoriented. Much like the first time he was "summoned"; when he blacked out and couldn't even see Hinata clearly. From the warmth of the summer to now just a week before Christmas, he was here again.
He turned on his phone flashlight to help guide him and began to feel more and more uneasy the further he went. Then he saw two hooded figures. Naruto promptly turned off his flashlight so they wouldn't see him.
They were hitting something on the ground with a baseball bat. He just stared and watched them until he realized they were hitting the small pond where Hinata would come from. Were they trying to get to her? Then one of their hoods slipped and he saw that undeniable pink hair.
"Hey!" he shouted as he began to walk close to the couple. "What are you two doing here?"
Sakura let out a shriek and dropped the flashlight she was holding in Sasuke's direction. "Oh my god! I thought you were a murderer!" She exclaimed as her rapid breathing became puffs of condensation in the frozen night.
"What are you doing here?" He repeated, completely disregarding the pinkette and instead focused on the male who continued his efforts to break the ice.
Sasuke sighed and stopped to look over at the blond. "I felt Hinata's magic. Now I'm trying to get her out of here."
Naruto trudged over to the frozen pond and shoved Sasuke with his shoulder. He knelt down and dusted off the ice to see through it clearly. But he was shocked to find there was no one there.
"What're you trying to do to me?" Naruto mumbled. "Are you the one that called for me?!" He shouted and turned to Sasuke with red rimmed eyes where he had already begun to cry.
Sasuke frowned and he looked down at the ice and could see Hinata under the surface. "Naruto, she's right there."
"No she's not!" He pounded the ice with his fist and caused Hinata to flinch. "Why are you doing this to me?! You can go to the damn ocean and get her but you–!"
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. "She's right there, look."
The pinkette proceeded to take out her phone and snap a picture of the ice. She turned her phone to him and the blond let out a stuttered sob when he saw her beautiful self below the ice. He immediately turned back to the ice but he still couldn't see her.
"Why... why can't I see her?" He sniffled and knelt down to the ice. He placed his palm on the ice and Sakura smiled when Hinata put her own palm against the surface.
"Magic is interfering," Sasuke mumbled. "Maybe because you're a human."
"Sakura can see her." He immediately shot back. Naruto pulled his own phone from his pocket and turned the camera to the ice and let out a shocked laugh when he could see her through the lens.
"Hinata, can you hear me?!" He shouted. Naruto watched her nod and hit the ice from below. "Why can't I see you with just my eyes?!"
Sasuke watched the two of them try to communicate with each other and he tried to think of what kind of magic was being used. He read so many books about all the different types of magic.
"Itatchi..." Sasuke muttered. "Hinata?!" He called and watched her shift her attention. "Itachi still is unwed, right?"
He watched her nod.
Sasuke then clapped and the others watched him have an a-ha moment.
"Love barrier! It can only be performed by an unwed man!" He tried to rack his mind for other details and how to break it. "Neji is related to you so he couldn't have done it. You can't see her because you love her!"
Naruto blushed a scarlet shade. He hadn't even got to tell her himself but was outed by some dumb mermaid spell.
Sasuke snatched Naruto's phone. "Put both of your hands on the ice, without your gloves."
"What? I'm gonna get frostbite." The blond grimaced.
"Do you wanna get her out?!" The Uchiha yelled. He was cold and tired. "Do as I say. Okay now, Hinata you too!" He yelled.
Hinata put her hands on the other side right under Naruto's but wasn't touching the ice yet. "Okay you're both gonna have to focus! Focus on how you feel and try to use any magic you can, then–!"
Before Sasuke could finish any instruction, Naruto fell through the ice the moment Hinata touched it from below.
The blond gasped once the frigid water soaked through his clothes and his entire body submerged beneath the surface. This is it, he thought, I'm gonna die of hypothermia.
"N-Naruto?" He heard Hinata call his name. He opened his eyes and could see the mermaid looking at him in astonishment.
"Hinata?" He reached his hand out to her. "I can hear you..."
He watched Hinata swim towards him and couldn't understand why he wasn't cold or why he could breathe under the water.
"Naruto... you..." she reached out her hand and embraced him tightly. "I am so sorry for falling in love with you."
"What?" Naruto pulled away from her. "Hinata, what do you mean?"
She looked downwards to his feet and he followed her eyesight.
But he no longer had feet. In their place, was a bright orange tail.
🤪🤪
shorter chapters = more frequent content = longer book
this should be done soon, though im not sure how many chapters. maybe 5? i planned the rest out so hopefully i can stay on schedule. thanks for sticking with me pals :)