“I’m dying.”
It was inevitable. Kakashi could feel it happening already as he fell into the ankle deep water. One arm shook while he pushed himself up. The smell of kelp and decaying fish hung in the air. He was bleeding out, slowly but surely. Waves of nausea hit him on and off, teasing his senses as he forced himself not to vomit. The hand resting over his wound shook with his effort to keep pressure, but it did nothing to stop the moisture of sweat, the shivering. It didn’t stop the unease that was building in his chest. Despite it all, despite his hellbent nature that his friends claimed would get him killed, Kakashi had never wanted to die young. He realized it too late as he looked at his reflection.
A wave crashed against his thighs.
He fell again to his knees. The water licked at his wound.
“You’re going to attract a shark who will not be kind to your wounds, shinobi.”
A soft voice brought his attention forward.
She was twelve feet away and swimming.
The Land of Illusions was still vastly unknown, hostile in comparison to others. As long as the woman stayed away from him, she could stay there. He tried to push more pressure against the wound. His team had been sent to observe, to study and to report. Information gathering had gone well, until it hadn’t. Kakashi still couldn’t quite comprehend what he had seen attack him. Powerful claws had ripped at his skin. His team had scattered. He didn’t know what had happened to Tenzo, to Yugao. “Focus on your breathing, shinobi.” The soft voice entered his mind and he flinched away at the thought. He looked back towards the woman. She was closer, but there was something… off about the way that she was staring at him. Something off about her presence entirely, he realized, as she didn’t seem to tread water to stay above.
They had come to shore by swimming.
She couldn’t be standing. “Strong swimmer?”
“Men never think they’ll die young, is that the same for you?”
Kakashi drew a kunai when he realized she had come closer the next time he looked at her. He forced himself to stand. She smirked at him. Her hair was brown, he could see it, and her eyes were a shade of gold. He glimpsed more gold beneath her. As he shouted out for her to stay back, a wave crashed into him out of nowhere. Kakashi heard a splashing sound. He glimpsed a gold tail, and then he felt nothing as he crashed into the sea, unconscious.
❂ ❂ ❂
His eyebrows furrowed as he awoke to the words “silly human” and the slightest tap against his cheek. He opened his eyes to find gold eyes staring at him. The woman from before had her hand resting against his skin. Her touch was cool, her thumb tracing along his bare cheek. He reached his hand up to swat her hand away, to pull his mask up, but Kakashi found himself unable to. He felt panic rise through his system until he heard her voice again. He didn’t see her lips move as she smiled at him. “You need to rest, silly human. You are very hurt.” He didn’t know why she called him silly human, but as she blinked at him, he watched her eyes.
“Sleep, shinobi. You will be okay. It is not your time.”
She stroked over his cheek before she moved away to get something.
As she did, Kakashi glimpsed her bare back.
When she turned back to him, he noticed she was bare to the waist. Her hair kept the majority of her modesty in place, but he could see the swell of her breast. He felt it press against his arm. There was a pinching sensation, but before Kakashi could say anything further, he passed back out as pain ignited from his stomach wound.
❂ ❂ ❂
When he awoke again, Kakashi didn’t see the woman. He slowly sat up, a twinge in his side. He touched the area over where the wound seemed to have healed, and looked around. He was in a lagoon of some sort, hidden away. He didn’t remember seeing it as they arrived, but his attention had been on the mission. Kakashi had little time for anything else. He found the woman facing him, her elbows resting on a rock. She was staring at him, curious. “Are you a medic?” He asked, watching as she smiled before she gave a shake of her head. “Are you feeling better, shinobi?” Her voice was pleasant. He remembered it in his head. He didn’t understand how, but he supposed it could have been a technique. Kakashi remembered seeing a tail and wondered if he had been hallucinating.
He could see smooth skin down to her hips.
She didn’t seem to be wearing anything, but she was in the sun. She could be sunbathing nude, for all he knew. There were no tan lines on her skin.
“Kakashi, and yes, I am. Thank you.”
Although he didn’t understand how.
“And, you are?”
Amusement in her features again. She tilted her head at him. Her golden eyes reflected in the sun, reminding Kakashi that there was something off about them. He wanted her to come closer.
“I have many names. You may call me Seiren.”
She finally responded.
There were shouts above them, familiar shouts. Tenzo and Yugao? He opened his mouth and she disappeared under the water. Her sudden movement had him looking to where she had been, only to find her near him. He hadn’t even noticed how close to the water that he had been laying until he felt a hand move over his mouth. He felt her breast press against his arm. “Do not let them hear you. They are not your friends.” Her voice was in his head again. He turned to look at her. “The sirens on this island have already harmed you. Your friends are alright.” Kakashi looked into her eyes. He realized why they bothered him. They were similar to the eyes of a snake, her pupils constricted and reptilian. He almost started to pull away from her until he saw the gold tail extending from her hips down.
He must have been hallucinating.
He was dying.
Maybe he was already dead.
“She can’t be a mermaid. They don’t exist.”
“I heard that.”
He jerked away and she pinned him down. She put a finger to her lips and pointed upwards. Kakashi saw why she kept him near. Towards the edge of the ceiling, there was an opening. A large bird sat on the edges, looking. He remembered the talons as they sliced into him. The creature had the shape of a woman’s head. “Slowly, come with me. Do not make sudden moves.” Seiren removed her hand. She grasped his, tugging slightly to draw him in. Kakashi moved too quickly. He could see it across her face. She wasn’t shy when she grabbed the front of his pants and dragged him under the water. He didn’t even have time to breathe in before he heard the angry scream that became muffled. Seiren pulled him deep enough for his lungs to ache, her fingers leaving his pants and touching his chin. He tried to go to the surface, but before he could, she grasped his chin and forced his mouth open.
Her lips touched his, he tasted salt. She blew air into his lungs and then shut his mouth before she pulled him along. Kakashi couldn’t see where they were going. She didn’t stop aside to kiss him, pushing air into his lungs as she did, until they reached another lagoon. When they broke the surface, he breathed out. He could taste her salty kiss and stared at her as she stayed a bit away. “I’m hallucinating.” He finally said, “This can’t be happening. Mermaids aren’t real. Sirens aren’t real. I’m dying on a beach, in the middle of nowhere.” He didn’t know why he was telling her the words. She either didn’t understand them or she thought he was being rude. Either way, she shook her head and pushed his chest. “Get on the shore, shinobi.”
He waited until she was up out of the water beside him to grab her tail. It was wet beneath his touch. He saw her skin turn red as he slid his hand along where the human thigh would be and felt the fin smack him back into the water. “Don’t do that.” He could hear tension in her tone. He resurfaced and fixed her with a glare. She smacked him on the top of the head. “I do not know where you are from, but that is rude where I am.”
“You grabbed me by the front of my pants.”
“It would have ripped you to pieces. I did not intend to grab your pride.”
He opened his mouth. He closed his mouth. When she adjusted her hair, he glimpsed the curve of her breast again. He forced himself to look at her face.
“My pr-.”
“You can say thank you. I have broken rules to save you. Twice.”
She frowned at him and he looked down at her tail, the way it glistened in the water. Eventually, she offered her hand to pull him out. She was stronger than she looked. His eyes dropped down to her tail. It reminded him more of a dolphins, the way it seemed to be able to move up and down easily. There were flecks of green inside the scales, but it felt warm to the touch where a fin rested near his hand. He couldn’t see a seam at her hips. His eyes moved over her belly, searching for one. She didn’t say anything as he looked at her breasts, her neck, and then her face. “You broke rules to save me?” He found himself asking, and she shrugged. It was a light shrug that lifted and dropped her chest enough to cause it to shake. She didn’t hurry to cover herself, her hair falling naturally to cover her when she turned her head to look at him.
“My people have been banned from helping humans.”
“Why?”
“History has not been kind between us.”
She moved to set her hand against his chest. Kakashi looked down at it as he slowly pulled his mask back up over his face. Seiren seemed to be studying him. “Your kind kills us, as we have killed yours.” Her touch was soft. She smelled of the sea, but in a refreshing and energizing way, unlike what he could smell earlier. He remembered that her lips had tasted of salt. Kakashi moved his hand to rest over hers as she inclined her head. “This can’t possibly be real.” He murmured to himself, but she smiled at him. He felt her drum her nails against his chest before she moved his hand to rest it just over her heart, against her sternum. His thumb pressed against smooth skin. There, he could feel a strong, steady heartbeat. “Others of mine would have let you drown or eaten you. Such a shame.”
She was real.
He watched her animalistic eyes slowly transition into something more human.
“Kakashi! Senpai!” He heard Tenzo shout out. Seiren withdrew her hand. He saw her look towards the sound. “Where are you?” When she didn’t cover his mouth, he realized it was his actual team. “The sirens will remain searching for you where we were. I suggest you and your friends leave. Do not return here.” Seiren frowned. “I do not wish to see you die, nor them. You are good people.” He lifted an eyebrow at that. “Even for shinobi.”
Her hand was on his arm before it went away entirely.
He looked back towards the shouting of his name.
Kakashi wanted to know more about her.
“Wait here. Give me five minutes.”
He asked, and she smiled a soft smile at him, a sad one, but she gave him a nod. Kakashi got to his feet. He moved towards the shouting. He was halfway up the rock hill when he saw Tenzo running towards him. Seiren must have seen him, too, because as Kakashi glanced over his shoulder at her, the mermaid dove off the rock. He glimpsed her bare back, her golden tail, and then nothing as she disappeared into the tunnels below.
“Goodbye, silly shinobi. Your five minutes are up.”
He heard her soft voice in his mind and then nothing.
“Senpai!” Yugao greeted him.
She had scratches on her arms, on her face. Tenzo looked as if he had gone swimming in a pool of mud, the way it caked and clung to his clothing. They looked fine otherwise. He felt relief flood through him, but he found himself glancing towards the water every now and then as they made their way back towards the boat. He wondered where his mermaid had gone to, had she really been there, after all?
Kakashi told himself that she hadn’t as they set sail.
He convinced himself that it had been his injury, even if it had seemed to vanish. In the back of his mind, Kakashi heard a soft, girlish laugh and turned his head towards the sea. He saw something gold moving quickly in the water, and then nothing.