Hyuuga Neji meets his... enemy? Rival? No, not any of those. He doesn't know what to call Uchiha Sasuke, and he doesn't need to. There is only one mission in mind, and that is to bring the Uchiha back to Konoha.
" You can stop now." Sasuke does not turn to face him.
" Still don't remember my name, Hyuuga?" Neji narrows his eyes, byakugan activating, waiting for him to turn around and attack. He doesn't. He stays silent and Neji finds himself responding.
" Uchiha Sasuke. The Last." Neji twitches subconsciously as Sasuke lets out a broken, cold laugh.
" The Last, Hyuuga. The last. Konoha let That Man kill off my entire family, my clan, my parents..." He shakes his head. " And why do you expect me to go back?"
Neji swallows thickly, somewhat confused and suspicious as to why he was spending the time to talk instead of fight. " Because Konoha is your home. Where do you expect to go out there? Orochimaru is only out for your body. You belong in Konoha, your clan would not want this. The Will of Fire-"
" Will of Fire, Will of Fire. Don't you see, Neji?" Neji realized with a start that he was calling him by the first name.
" The Will of Fire," he spits out the words like poison and ash in his mouth. Neji feels oddly uncomfortable and in danger. " Is nothing more but mere propoganda, meant to keep us in line. Tell me Neji, has Konoha ever done anything for you? Has it done anything for me? No, no. It caused my clan to be slaughtered in the middle of the night, and no one cared. Konoha let the Main Branch, your own relatives, to act as your masters. As slaves. Can't you see that?"
And Neji doesn't want to respond, wants to believe its just another form of manipulation that Uchiha Sasuke is giving to him, but he can't. Because he knows that its true. He knows how loud and terrifying the screams are, when he was younger and watched as Branch Members get tortured and burned for not pleasing the Main. He remembered the confusion, because they were all family surely, so why were they hurting each other? He had at the time, reasoned it as fate, after all, wasn't it fate that Hinata be the star as he, despite being a genius, despite all the skill in the world, was forced to be in the background because of his birth? That his father had to die for the sake of the Main Branch, who did nothing to earn their sacrifice? Who relied on them for protection.
Anger and disgust churned in his stomach as he realized that Sasuke was actually making its way in his mind. " You're wrong." He growled, unnerved by how much Sasuke's words were getting to him.
Sasuke merely chuckled, finally turning around. His eyes were dark and his skin looked far too pale. Neji realized with a start that these were all things that he had failed to realize until now. The dark swirls on Sasuke's neck marked where the curse seal had been placed. " Am I, Neji? Do you belong in Konoha, were they treat you as lower than trash? Where they can kill you on a whim and no one would question it? Is it home when you must serve as nothing more than a servant to your own family?" Neji steeled himself against Sasuke's words.
" Your lies don't bother me, Uchiha-"
" No? Than why aren't you attacking? Surely you know that I'm right..." He gave a quizzical, almost puzzled expression. Neji channelled chakra into his hands, prepared to move, and strike, and rip that damned traitor's head straight off the-
" You want to kill me, Neji." He sounded almost disappointed. Neji glanced down though he didn't need to, and saw his hand lighting up with malicious energy. So he hadn't been keeping it in. " Tell me why you want to kill me, Neji. Is it because you want to bring me back to Konoha? Or is it because you want someone to notice you?" Neji glares.
" I want only to bring you back to Konoha so you can get the punish-"
" Oh, but I am, " Sasuke stated, clear as day, eyes narrowing, and flashing to red with black. It took all of his willpower not to attack the minute he saw the tomoes whirl from within the pupils.
" I am being punished, Neji. I am being punished by having my family dead. By having Him as a relative. I am punished by nightmares of death and despair. And I will get vengeance for that." Sasuke's smirk widened, as he set his eyes directly at Neji's own. " But you brought up an interesting point, Neji. Did my clan want that? Well, I hardly know. They're dead. And I must ask another question, to you. Say, perhaps, that your's died. Perhaps by a clanmate's hand. Perhaps by someone you used to love dearly."
Neji clenched his fists, as images flashed through his mind. Gentle Hinata, who couldn't hurt a soul, or perhaps bold Kimiko, who boasted and ran and yelled at the top of his lungs, and did the same even as his seal scorched into his brain. And his father, wise, gentle, calm, brilliant beyond his years. Who died for the sake of his brother who never spared him a second look, who treated him like dirt. Neji, despite forgiving, would always hold a grudge for that day. He shook his head and grit his teeth, forcing himself to listen to what Sasuke was saying.
" Perhaps, let us say, that you come and you see the corpses of all that you love. Perhaps they tell you to get stronger. Perhaps they taunt you. Would you not seek vengeance?" He challenged, voice booming over the large cliffs. " Would you not hate them? Would you not wish to kill them?"
Neji felt his throat close up, and then open, letting out a short gasp before steadying himself, feeling the bitter taste of blood in his mouth and hands. The metallic liquid spread through his tongue, and he liked his lips.
" N-no." He said, voice cracking, slightly, closing his eyes in order to get rid of the intruding memories. " No." He spoke the next time more firmer, steadier. He stood firmly, loosening himself. " I'm not like you, traitor. I am loyal to the Hidden Leaf."
" No you aren't." Sasuke says, casually. " You're lying Neji Hyuuga. You are not loyal to Konoha because they have failed you. They have let you be tortured and abused by your own family, You are not loyal to Konoha, Neji, but you are loyal to your cousin. You want them to have the best life. That's why you stay, Neji, not because of Konoha." Instantly, Neji latched onto that rope that Sasuke had thrown him. Yes, yes, that was it. He was loyal to Hinata-sama and Hanabi, but not to-
" So why stay with Konoha, Neji? Why not... leave?" Neji's hackles rose.
" There!" He exclaimed triumphantly. " You're just getting me to leave, but I won't! I-"
" You won't leave, Neji? Are you content to stay here, where you are trapped? Is that not what that seal is? You are a bird, Neji, and you are trapped in a cage, no matter how beautiful and convincing it is. I am giving you a chance to get out of that cage, Neji. Isn't that what you want? To be free? You said it yourself, that it is no longer your destiny to serve. So choose your own path Neji, and do what you want."
Neji scowled, gritting his teeth. He knew that he should refuse, because that was what a good shinobi would do, because that was his duty, that was his job, he had to bring the traitor back to Konoha and then they would appreciate him and he wouldn't be in their shadow anymore and he knew that this was just a mind game, that Sasuke was just trying to convince him to leave and he shouldn't trust him- and yet, and yet, he can't help but find himself succumbing to his words.
Why? Why did he stay? What did Konoha ever do for him but try and stifle his future, to turn him into a drone? Sasuke seemed to notice that he did not speak. " Or you can kill me, I suppose. Kill the traitor, and be hailed as a hero, but know that you have cut off your own wings. It would be symbolic, I suppose. Here, the Uchiha once more tries to leave the Village peacefully, and without notice, only to be killed by the self righteous, oh-so-heroic once-enemy." Sasuke sat down, and Neji realized that if he wanted to, he could kill him. He could. So why wasn't he doing it.
" I won't kill you..." Neji tried to say, though he knew that wasn't true. Sasuke was full-blown laughing by now.
" Kill me." He demanded. " You want to stay with Konoha, don't you? Don't you hate me?" Neji stayed there, shaking slightly, unable to speak, until Sasuke held out a hand.
" Or you can come with me. Be free."
And Neji knows that he should refuse, take this chance and strike against this traitor's flesh, and yet, and yet- He makes sense, to Neji's horror. Because why, and why and why why why should he stay a servant to Konoha? Even death would be better than being the slave that hie is right now, so, against all better judgement, because Sasuke's merely trying to fool him, to play him like a fiddle, yes that is it, he has no idea- and yet.
And yet, Neji cannot help but agree. He nods, and turns off his Byakugan, and feels all the chakra leaving his body, letting himself feel drained and somewhat relaxed. He goes to Sasuke, still expectant, somewhat fearful, and hand still out, Neji knows that this is the perfect oppurtunity to kill him, just turn on the Byakugan and slice him down like the traitor that he- But Hyuuga Neji does not do that.
Hyuuga Neji, before he can think of anything else, takes Sasuke's hand. " I accept." He says, and all of a sudden, he can feel the wind wail in his ears and a chill sweep down his back but he does not back down. Because he is free.
Later on, in the rain, Hatake Kakashi runs to the Valley of the End, heart pounding as rapid as the raindrops on his face. He expects to find a body in the cold, wet, soil, or a wild, white-eyed boy with drenched hair carrying his student in his arms. He does not find either of those.
Instead, Hatake Kakashi finds two headbands pinned to the rock, drenched and mudded and torn, and with slashes purposely held over them. And Kakashi feels his heart sink even lower. The world feels so, so, cold and he can barely even see thorugh his shock.