Naruto's new father is a Merman

6

"Wake up!" Hiro nudges jostling from my amazing sleep, "We're here."

I blink my eyes to clear away the blurriness to a cohesive picture. I saw nothing but white smoke wafts covering the area. I blink more, thinking my vision was still blurry. The surroundings stayed the same. Under the smoke was the water of a lake feeling with anticipation of what he'll find underneath.

Hiro places me on my feet letting me exercise my legs from immobility for almost two days. My legs felt like lead the second I tried to lift one my foot, my whole body hit the ground. I heard an exasperated groan before I was lift up from the back of my armor.

Despite Hiro's irritation with me in that moment, he waits patiently, as I work through my legs, picking me up each time I flopped unceremoniously into the dirt. Eventually I could move as I want and that was satisfactory enough for Hiro who kicks my back sending me flying into the water with a splash.

With quiet splash Hiro was next to me the armor from both of us melt away returning to Hiro's body with practiced ease.

"Come, we're almost late!" Hiro swam off with powerful swings of his tail I race after him I didn't want to be left behind again.

All I felt was the current hitting his face, Hiro made a sharp turn to the right and I struggled through the forest of anemones to follow.

Once I was out I see Hiro blasting away towards the bottom of a giant rock formation. It was similar to our cave entrance from underneath. And Hiro completely takes a sharp left turn away from the entrance and it left me confused.

Where on earth were we going? Then we swam over an field of seaweed housing a sunken ship, my eyes sparkled in amazement. I quickly turn back to Hiro who was speeding up and I struggle to keep pace.

The merman speeds through another field this time seaweed, and was easier to follow after since the plants parted from his speed forming an opening that he was able to go through. Then it was breathtaking there was thousands upon thousands of fish schools swimming and they separated and regrouped as we went through.

Hiro finally stops in the middle of the fish and waited until I came to his side and spread out his arms.

"Go wait over there and watch, one day you will take on this task," He spoke, and I nod obedient and sit on the side, "I want to ingrain this moment in your mind and memorize it. Each season has a different formation."

Hiro spun and twirled around with dance starting off calm and eventually becoming faster and more complex there was several dives into almost impossible forms and but he watched mesmerized by what he witnessed before him and noticed that the school of fish surrounded us, were staring intently at Hiro with unblinking eyes.

It was fascinating and unnerving to see them act unnatural, they weren't moving, frozen fixated on him only and nothing else.

And when Hiro's dance came to it's final close the fish swarm around us and formed a vortex with us at the center pushing the water outside leaving no water in the center and at the top was the moon, the light beamed on us with a magnifying energy almost like chakra in a way.

And the fish absorbed the energy lighting with their multitude of colors on their scales in a glittering rainbow and extended the energy out into the rest of the water.

"Oki come here now!" Hiro hissed crouching low, and without much prompting he ran over and ducked behind the man, "Don't make a noise, there are land people here, watching."

He growls his eyes glowing in an ominous way. I gulp in fear, did the leafers find us... him? He let out a small yelp feeling Hiro's his nape towards him with his chakra touching him faintly and soon his shaking body calms down.

If they were discovered here it mean heaps of trouble for them both. The fish had cleared the center of their vortex of water to give easier pathway for the moon to touch the ocean floor and then spread it to the rest of the ocean. If the water was still there it would've been less effective as the water would the energy off into multiple direction than what was desired. But what was the purpose of this?

"Father what-" I try to ask but the hand tightened in response and I shut my mouth.

"They will be here a while," he hisses annoyed, "they do this every year."

I was curious as to why but was afraid of asking him at this moment.

But father being himself already knew what I wanted to ask.

"They come to see the fish, and collect the goods that come with the solstice,"
he explains becoming more angry as he spoke, "this is annoyance every single year. We will wait this through."

He nods with a groan.

The wait was several hours by the first hour the fish had dispersed all over and started digging in the sand. They swam away carrying a small pebble. They've swam away with different groups going off into different directions.

Hiro and oki quickly swam with the fish as cover and went behind a rock and Oki couldn't help himself to peek around the corner.

"What's that they're carrying?" He asks with wide eyes.

"That is their young, their eggs. They bury their eggs into the sand so that they can absorb the moonlight from the solstice. This helps to further their growth. But sometimes the humans take them and mistake them for gems."

"So they take 'em?" Oki becomes angry as he sees a human with headgear kick a fish making it drop the egg and puts it into their pocket, and Hiro squeezes his shoulder giving him a look, "Are we going to sit here and do nothing about it?"

"Relax, this time I changed the formation and that any eggs leaving the water with the moon energy would become as heavy as a ship."

The human swam to the surface then then they let out a choking sound and had sunken to the bottom as if weighted down by an anchor.

The fish that was kicked swam and dung into their pocket and retrieved the egg. The human tried to get it back but a school of electric eels crowded and shocked them out of the water.

Hiro had a sadistic smile on his face seeing the humans get tortured and Oki cheered.

"Come, it's time for us to take some goods," Hiro says before swimming off leaving gaping before scrambling after him.

The Journey wasn't long at all, only ten minutes to land in a field of mysterious flowers. Underwater.

"Wow," he lets out the flowers stood with its white petals with a small space, it resembled a circle and a slice was taken out. On the edges of the petals was a pink or blue color and at the center resembled a small anemone,
"What are they? Theres so many of them!"

"They're called Winmos, its a flower that started spawning ever since I began the solstice long ago. They are essential for you?"

"Really, what do they do?"

"They help you become more absorbent to moon energy. You will eat them whole until you are able to absorb it on your own. Spring is Earth, Summer is fire, Autumn is Wind, Winter is water," He plucks a flower and hands it off to the boy, "with winter the moons energy is at its most powerful, eat it."

Oki looks at the flower in disgust and apprehension but Hiro glare of steel made him force the plant down his throat.

There was an immediate effect and the energy around him hyphenated, and it it came a blazing migraine then darkness.