"It's fine," Sasuke says. "Come on, let's keep going."

"Right." Hashirama shoots Sasuke a concerned look when he's looking away, but follows him back to the river they'd been walking along.

With the fight's delay, they won't get to the village before sun-down - at their current pace, they're still a few hours out. There's a low wind, here, making it chillier than it was where they first camped.

"I don't think we should push on," is Hashirama's opinion. "Even through dusk. We'll want to set up camp while we have light, after all..."

Sasuke nods, agreeing, and helps find a hollow sheltered from the wind, distant enough from the river they're less likely to be stumbled upon by animals coming for a drink, and far enough from the coral caves to avoid nocturnal animals emerging to hunt.

He unseals their supplies for the night with practiced efficiency.

Working together with Hashirama to build the camp is relaxing, almost. Hashirama doesn't engage in dramatics, nor screw things up, nor bother Sasuke when he doesn't want to be bothered...

Hashirama likes working with Sasuke, too! He's competent, but doesn't scold Hashirama for not doing it the one correct way.

After a bit of back and forth, he'll concede on giving Sasuke first watch, then settle in to sleep.

(What would have happened if Sasuke's construct had failed joins his nightmares...)

Sasuke wakes him halfway through the night, as promised.

(He recognizes that sort of stillness. He's grouchy that Hashirama let him sleep last night, but... Well, he guesses the best way to avoid them both repeatedly refusing to wake the other up is to just not do that.)

Hashirama wakes up quickly, and takes over the watch.

He doesn't wake Sasuke immediately upon dawn.

He's... Not super sure he wants to be in a rush to get to civilization, either. Though presumably civilization will have fewer shark attacks.

Sasuke doesn't push him about the late morning when he does eventually wake, just helps make breakfast and then break camp quietly.

Hashirama, recognizing that Sasuke's about to start brooding, starts up a light chatter - mostly about his surviving family, especially shenanigans Tobirama's gotten up to - as they pack and then set out.

...That's at least better than being trapped with his own circling thoughts.

Sasuke tolerates the chatter, listening and making 'hn' noises at appropriate points. He's... Glad, that Hashirama isn't pushing him to give verbal answers. Even Naruto, who could easily carry an entire conversation himself, tended to get angry when he felt Sasuke wasn't engaging. Hashirama just lets him drift in and out.

Honestly Sasuke's a lot less unfriendly than Tobirama, Hashirama's kind of used to people who listen but don't engage.

He'll let the chatter trail off as they get in easy sight of the village.

The village is audible now, too, the words too distant to be distinct - but many of them are melodic, like people are singing instead of speaking. There's cart noises and what's likely animal noises, and a rhythmic 'ting-ting-ting' of a blacksmith.

"I don't know that reconnaissance will help much..." Sasuke murmurs.

"And we don't know their senses, nor their culture - they might see it as unfriendly," Hashirama says agreeably. 

He nods. "So, onwards down the main path?"

"Probably best, yeah."

The people, once Sasuke and Hashirama find the main road and then come into view of the village proper, don't look much like humans. Some of them distantly resemble some of the odder clans, but not very. There's a girl with a humanoid upper half (except for the faint shimmer of scales on her flesh) that fades into a tail with no legs, using a wheelchair to push herself around. There's an older girl, a bit larger than Sasuke or Hashirama but still looking juvenile, floating behind an empty wheelchair she's pushing as she talks to her maybe-sister. Both have blue-green hair that shimmers with flecks of trapped stars, and both wear clothing woven from seaweed and heavily decorated with coral beads.

There's multiple beings that seem to resemble different types of crabs, many of them capable of holding themselves slightly upright to carry things. Most of them wear decoration, but there's not really clothing.

There's a crowd of octopuses, most of them half Sasuke's height, mostly colored in dull shades of blue and brown, pulling themselves along the ocean floor. Some of the larger ones seem capable of hopping and floating short distances.

There's assorted variations on humanoid jellyfish, who seem to have an easier time flying than most of the village's inhabitants.

Many of them turn to look at Sasuke and Hashirama when they round the corner, and one jellyfish girl flutters her bowl-hair and skirt and flows over to them, making curious chirping noises.

"...I don't know your language," Sasuke says after a glance at Hashirama.

There's a sweep of sing-song chittering through the crowd like that, and the two mermaid girls move closer to them - the floating one leaving her empty wheelchair behind to come and make a wobbly circle around both boys. She tries a few human-ish languages, becoming excited when Sasuke and Hashirama recognize none of them.

The mermaid still in a wheelchair sings something almost like a complaint, making her floating friend laugh, as the jellyfish girl pokes Hashirama.

Hashirama laughs and lets her poke him, even when it stings a bit. Nothing he can't heal.

The jellyfish girl makes a happy, trilling sound, and loops over to examine Sasuke.

Floating mermaid girl quivers, then seems to be having some trouble floating, until she starts resting her weight on Hashirama's shoulders (clearly, he's the friendlier one here).

"You guys are nice, at least!" Hashirama says. "Uh, I'm not too good at charades..."

Sasuke sends a slightly exasperated glance at him. "I might be able to use genjutsu to communicate, at least images..."

Jelly girl floats in front of Sasuke, face serious, and taps her hair-bell, then goes to wrap her tendril-like fingers around his head.