Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Warning: Contains spoilers for those who don't read the manga.

Two Seals

Chapter 1: Persuasion

"Are you clear on the details of this mission?" Tsunade asked.

Hyuuga Neji, jounin and leader of the specially-assembled team, nodded. "Orochimaru has been seriously injured during a recent altercation with several members of the organization Akatsuki. As a result, he has been temporarily weakened. We are to take advantage of this opportunity to bring Sasuke-san back to Konoha. If we have a chance to kill Orochimaru or his minion Yakushi Kabuto, we may do so, but our first priority is to retrieve Sasuke-san."

"That is correct," Tsunade stated. She looked around at the other members of the team: Naruto, Sakura, Lee, and Sai. "Good luck, to all of you."

All five young shinobi became more tense as they neared the hideout at which Sasuke and Orochimaru were supposedly staying.

"If Orochimaru is injured, Kabuto is probably with them too," Sakura pointed out.

Neji nodded. "We do need to be prepared for that possibility. Sakura, since you are also a medic-nin, you're the one best-suited to fight him. Sai, you've been inside one of Orochimaru's bases before, so your job will be to help us find our way around the place. Lee and Naruto, you will deal with Orochimaru, if we run into him, and with Sasuke himself."

As with all of Orochimaru's hideouts, this one was mostly underground. What looked like a simple shed was situated on an island in the middle of a large lake. Inside the shed was a staircase that wound downwards to a hidden base below the lake. Neji reported this fact to the rest of the team as he scrutinized the shed with his Byakugan. "There are several seals placed on this door—no doubt they alert someone within if the door is opened."

"Do the seals work in both directions? That is, will they sound an alarm if the door is opened from the inside?" inquired Sakura.

"I do not believe so," Neji replied.

Sai understood where this was going, and stepped forward. He took out a scroll and a paintbrush, and proceeded to draw several small insects. With the application of chakra, the drawings came to life, and the insects skittered under the door. Now Sai formed a sequence of seals and whispered, "Artistic Remodeling Technique". On the other side of the door, the insects dissolved into ink, and then re-formed into a new shape: a single thin humanoid who opened the door from the inside.

"Good work, Sai-san," Neji said, and the five of them slipped inside.

Orochimaru's stronghold was damp and cold—not unexpected, given that it was located under a lake. At the bottom of the stairs, a long, straight hallway stretched off into the distance. Torches spaced at intervals along the walls provided only a weak illumination. Everything was silent, and no movement was evident anywhere. Overall, the atmosphere was quite depressing.

"How could anyone live in a place like this? The vibrancy of youth is completely absent!" Lee seemed particularly unsettled by the dismal surroundings.

"If this place is set up like the one I was in, these rooms will be mostly laboratories or prison cells for captives. The living quarters for Sasuke-san, Kabuto, and Orochimaru will be deeper inside. Given Orochimaru's weakened state, we can expect to encounter Sound-nins who have been assigned to guard him." Sai stepped forward, intending to take the lead, but Neji extended a hand to stop him.

"Everyone, don't go ahead of me. There may be traps that only my Byakugan can detect. Follow my lead exactly."

"Hey, hey, what should I do?" Naruto was clearly becoming impatient. He knew better than anyone how high the stakes were on this mission.

"Take up the rear, in case we are attacked from behind. We'll count on you to watch our backs."

"Right!"

With the help of Neji's bloodline limit, the five shinobi were able to avoid all of the traps that Orochimaru had set up within his lair. As Sai had predicted, they did encounter several Sound-nins, but these were low-level and easily defeated. Eventually, they entered a hallway where the light was more plentiful and the construction was of better quality. "This is where Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Sasuke's quarters are likely to be," Sai stated.

"Neji-san, what do you see?" Naruto asked.

Neji activated his Byakugan and squinted through the walls. "Sasuke-san is in the room on the left. He appears to be reading a scroll."

Leaving Sai in the hallway as a lookout, the others entered the small room. Inside, they found a bed, a dresser, and a desk at which Sasuke was sitting. He was indeed reading a scroll, scrutinizing it by the dim light of a candle. He looked up as the door opened, and immediately activated his Sharingan when he saw who it was. "What are you doing here?" he hissed.

"We've come to bring you back to Konoha, Sasuke-kun," Sakura answered.

"Whether you like it or not!" Naruto added fiercely.

"Haven't I told you already? I'm not on the same path as you guys. I'm an avenger, and the path I'm on is one I have to walk alone." Sasuke's tone was scathing. He glared at them as if hoping to intimidate them into leaving.

Naruto fixed Sasuke with a determined gaze that Sakura knew well. It was the same look that had appeared on his face when he challenged Neji after Hinata's defeat in the preliminary matches of the Chuunin Exam. It was the same look he'd had when he faced down Gaara during the invasion of Konoha. It was the same look that had filled her with both admiration and fear as they pursued Gaara's Akatsuki kidnapper. It was a look that proclaimed that Naruto was not going to give up, no matter what the cost. "Don't you get it? Orochimaru has no intention of letting you follow that path! He just wants your body! Do you really believe he'll let you fight Itachi and risk his container getting damaged? He doesn't care about your dreams, he only cares about himself!"

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke spat back harshly. "Orochimaru has no love for the Akatsuki. Once he has my body, he'll eliminate them all—including Itachi. I don't care if I have to give up my body, as long as Itachi ends up dead."

"But Sasuke-kun," Sakura implored, "it doesn't have to be that way. You don't have to do this alone. We're all willing to help you." Her normally gentle face hardened, jaw becoming set in a determined expression. "Itachi is after Naruto, and he's with Akatsuki. That makes him a danger to Konoha too. Do you think we'd sit idly by while our friend is in danger? Come back with us, and we can all fight Itachi together."

Sasuke's body tensed, and he clenched his fists at his sides. "Do you think I chose this? You all act like this is something I want! This path I'm on…my feet were set upon it when I was eight years old. The structure of my life, out to its end, was determined for me by someone else. It doesn't matter how many pretty words you throw at me, nothing can change that."

"You're wrong." Everyone turned at the soft voice. Neji stood in the doorway, staring at Sasuke with inscrutable white eyes. He had been silent up to this point, and his interjection into the conversation between the members of Team 7 was a surprise.

"I too…know what it is like to have your destiny determined by another." Neji stepped forward, fixing Sasuke in place with his gaze. "You arrived late to the final matches of the Chuunin Exam, so you did not hear me telling Naruto-san about the secret of the Hyuuga clan. To explain it briefly…because my father was born seconds after his twin brother, I was condemned to be part of the Branch House that lives only to serve the Main House. As a young boy, a Cursed Seal was placed on my body that gave the members of Main House the ability to kill me with a thought if I displeased them." As he spoke, Neji reached up and removed his hitai-ate, exposing the mark that scarred his forehead. "My feet were set upon a certain path before I was even born. For a long time, I thought that there was no way for me to escape that destiny. I believed, as you do, that nothing could change the predetermined course of my life. When I fought Naruto-san, I learned that I was wrong." He paused, looking lost in thought. "What was it the Examiner said? 'When caged birds grow wiser, they learn how to open the cage with their beaks'…You and I have both lived most of our lives in a cage, Sasuke-san. I no longer accept that as the inevitable condition of my life. Neither should you."

Sasuke's eyes widened, and the Sharingan slowly drained away, leaving simple black behind. He seemed to have no response to Neji's words. For a few minutes, the group stood in silence. Then Sasuke opened his mouth to say something—but he never got a chance. Sai darted into the room, an expression of mild concern (which, for Sai, meant that he was feeling stark terror) on his face. "Orochimaru is coming!"

A/N: It occurred to me recently that Neji and Sasuke are alike in the sense that 1) both have cursed seals and 2) both felt that their destinies were determined by someone else. For that reason, it seems like Neji might be able to understand Sasuke better than a lot of people in Konoha, and I wondered what he might say to Sasuke if they encountered each other now. That idea was the inspiration for this story. I'm planning to do another chapter, which will involve more interaction between Sasuke and Neji. Reviews would be much appreciated!