Sasuke was dragged onto the deck, choking out water, gasping for air. Sasuke blinked up to see who had saved him. A man stood over him, his face emotionless. Sasuke noticed his gray eyes… Hyuga. Sasuke sat up quickly, ignoring the throb in his head. His vision blurred momentarily from the sudden movement. Sasuke waited until his vision cleared then looked at the deck at Namikaze. Neji was kneeling down, holding Namikaze gingerly.
Neji turned and glared at Sasuke, hatred in his eyes. Sasuke put his hand on his knee and pushed himself up.
"What'd you do?" Neji growled. Sasuke looked at Namikaze limp body. His blond hair was flattened down by the water, eyes closed peacefully. Neji gently laid Namikaze back onto the deck.
"Nothing," Sasuke replied casually, "Just—" Sasuke muffled his groan as he felt his brain being squeezed. The pain subsided and Sasuke caught his breath. "We're just training," Sasuke replied, trying to maintain his cool.
Neji raised his eyebrows as he noticed Sasuke's change in tone. Sasuke glanced at the other byakugan user. He was watching Sasuke intently, his guard up. When Sasuke looked back at Neji, Neji's byakugan was activated. Sasuke scoffed. He couldn't lie now without Neji noticing his shift in chakra. "A Hyuga does not belong in the Uchiha District, let alone, itwo/i Hyuga members," Sasuke said.
Neji stepped toward Sasuke. "Neither does my nephew. So why is he here?"
"Ask him yourself," Sasuke said, refraining from taking another glance in Namikaze's direction. He looked Neji in his gray eyes, noticed his tense body.
"Don't trust me, do you?" Sasuke said.
"You've giving the village no reason to trust you and if you mess with Namikaze again, you won't live to see another day," Neji said.
"You think death scares me?" Sasuke reached for his kunai pack. Neji reflexively pulled out his kunai. The other Hyuga activated his byakugan and pulled out a kunai as well. Sasuke sighed and unhooked his pack from his belt, tossing onto the shore.
"Don't worry about Namikaze, I'll die a lot sooner than him," Sasuke said emotionlessly. Neji scoffed and put away his kunai. He started to walk away. Sasuke watched his hair sway with his steps. He watched as the Hyuga branch clan member walked away from Sasuke's beloved clan's district. Neji paused.
"And don't worry about your district… Namikaze-kun won't be coming here again," Neji said without looking back. That, more than anything else, hit Sasuke like a slap in the face. The other Hyuga followed Neji out, his eyes lingering on Namikaze. He paused for a bit, decided whether or not to get Namikaze, but decided against it after looking at Neji and ran to catch up.
Sasuke sat beside Namikaze, dangling his feet over the edge of the deck as waves lapped up against his legs. Namikaze's hair had started to dry and had started to stick up again. Sasuke sighed as he glanced at Namikaze's watch. i Time for him to go,/i Sasuke thought.
Sasuke nudged him. "Namikaze-kun," he said softly. He nudged him again. Namikaze opened his eyes sleepily, blinking up at him.
"Huh? Sasuke-san…" Namikaze looked at his watch. "Oh no! I have to go now! See you tomorrow, Sasuke!" Namikaze paused for a bit and sniffed the air.
Sasuke nodded, ignoring his alertness. "Yeah, good bye." Namikaze left. Sasuke lay back on the deck and closed his eyes.