Naruto turned to the boy who had once been his best friend. "Sasuke, is there another way out of here?"
Sasuke thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, there's a jutsu that can allow us to pass through the stone walls and the earth above."
"But a jutsu won't work for Lee-san!" Sakura pointed out with a worried look on her face.
Naruto screwed up his face in concentration, then replied. "When I was fighting Gaara, I performed a Henge that transformed both me and Gamabunta-san, because he said he's not good at Henge. Could I do the same thing with Lee? I mean, perform the jutsu for both of us?"
Sakura's eyes widened. "I've heard of that sort of thing being done before. But you normally have to have a lot of chakra and good control to do it."
"I've done it before, with Gamabunta-san, like I said. I can do it again!"
"Okay," Sasuke said. "Watch closely: these are the seals for the jutsu." Slowly, he ran through a series of seals. "It's an Earth element jutsu: Ghost Walk, because it allows you to move through solid stone and earth, as ghosts are said to do."
As Sasuke finished the seal sequence, chakra flared around him, and he turned and passed silently through the wall of his room. Neji, Sakura, and Sai quickly repeated the seals and followed. Naruto performed all but one of the seals, then grasped Lee's upper arm. Forming the last seal, he guided Lee through the wall after the others.
Following the trail of Sasuke's chakra, the Leaf team traveled under the lake and emerged from the ground at its edge.
"Lee-san! Lee-san, are you okay?" Sakura queried.
"I'm fine, Sakura-san. Naruto-san helped me with the jutsu. It was amazing! Although I know I can be an excellent ninja even with just my taijutsu, sometimes I wish I could do ninjutsu like that!"
Neji suddenly spun around, veins around his eyes bulging as he activated his Byakugan. "Someone is watching us!"
"Is it Orochimaru?"
"No…"
Soft, sinister laughter echoed all around them. The air shimmered, and a man with glasses and gray hair tied back in a ponytail appeared before them. "Why, Sasuke-sama, are you out for a walk with some of your old friends from Konoha?" A wry smile lit Kabuto's features as he pushed his glasses further up on his nose.
Sasuke stared at Kabuto with disdain. "Get out of here, Kabuto, I'm leaving."
Kabuto smirked. "Have you forgotten your deal with Orochimaru-sama? You will stay here and train until you are strong enough to defeat Itachi, and once you have killed him, you will give your body to Orochimaru-sama."
Sakura tugged on her gloves and stepped protectively in front of Sasuke. "That deal's off, Kabuto."
"Yeah!" Naruto chimed in. "If you want him, you'll have to go through us."
"That can be arranged." Iridescent green chakra flared around Kabuto's hand, and he disappeared from view.
Everyone whirled around, trying to see where he had gone. "There!" Neji shouted, pointing off to the left. At the same moment, Lee grunted and fell to the ground.
"Fuzzy brows! Are you okay?" Naruto ran over to Lee and tried to help him up, but he seemed unable to stand.
"The muscles in my legs do not seem to be working properly. It is probably a medical ninjutsu."
"That bastard!" Naruto growled.
Meanwhile, Neji was darting around, jabbing with his fingers at something they couldn't see. Naruto recognized the characteristic Jyuuken stance, and knew that the Hyuuga nin was trying to hit Kabuto's tenketsu with his devastating attack.
"Sasuke-kun, your Sharingan can see through his genjutsu—help Neji-san!" Sakura instructed.
"That will not be necessary," Sai stated calmly. Pulling out his scroll and paintbrush, he quickly drew the figure of a large bird. The drawing broke free of the scroll and flew into the air above the two combatants. "Neji-san, I apologize for this, but it is necessary to make him visible." With that enigmatic remark, Sai released the jutsu that held the drawing together—and the bird collapsed into a formless mass of ink that spattered all over both struggling shinobi.
Neji, of course, was covered with ink. But directly in front of him, large gobs of ink floated in the air, apparently suspended by an invisible force. Kabuto had been drenched too, and while he himself was invisible, the ink was not. "Neji-san, get out of the way!" Sakura yelled, and charged towards Kabuto. A chakra-enhanced fist slammed into his gut, and he flew backwards through the air. Behind him, Sasuke unsheathed his sword and held it out in front of him. Kabuto landed on the outstretched blade, and his form shimmered back into visibility as he died.
"Orochimaru-sama…will not be pleased…" he whispered.
The six Konoha shinobi walked in silence for a long time. Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other every few minutes, and Naruto opened his mouth to speak once or twice, but always closed it without saying anything. After a few hours, it began to get dark, and the group stopped to set up camp for the night. While Sasuke sat and stared into the fire, Sakura walked over and stood in front of him, shuffling her feet hesitantly. "Sasuke-kun," she said, "we need to remove the Cursed Seal Orochimaru placed on you, so that he will no longer have any influence over you."
Sasuke nodded and wordlessly pushed his collar aside to reveal the mark that had scarred his neck for the past three years.
Meanwhile, Neji was busy helping Sai to set up tents for them to spend the night in. "It is my understanding," Sai stated, "that working on this sort of task can help to bring people closer together and strengthen their friendship."
"Do you mean setting up a tent, or fighting a dangerous enemy?" Neji inquired, not quite sure what Sai was getting at.
"…Both."
Someone cleared his throat behind them, and the two shinobi looked around to see Sasuke standing nearby. "Neji-san, may I speak with you for a moment?"
Neji left Sai behind and followed Sasuke a short distance away from the camp. "Neji-san…in order to remove all traces of Orochimaru's influence from me, Sakura-san removed the Cursed Seal that he placed on me in the Forest of Death."
Neji nodded. "That is a wise idea."
"I watched her perform the seals for the jutsu with my Sharingan activated, and copied it."
Neji watched Sasuke's face carefully. He didn't see why Sasuke was bringing this up. "Neji-san…this jutsu is not exclusive to my Cursed Seal. It could be used to remove yours as well."
Immediately, Neji shook his head. "Thank you for the offer, Sasuke-san, but Hiashi-sama and the other members of the Main House would not be pleased if I removed my seal. Besides, many in Konoha will already distrust you because of your previous alliance with Orochimaru. It will only become that much harder for you if you do this."
Sasuke shrugged. "Maybe. But I owe it to you, after what you said to me back there. As for what the Main House will say…Hinata-san is of age now, isn't she?"
Neji nodded. "Yes, she came of age about two months ago."
"Doesn't that give her a lot of say in House politics, especially since she is the heir to leadership of the clan?"
"Yes, it does."
"Unless Hinata-san has changed drastically over the past three years, I can't imagine that she would cause trouble for you. On the contrary, from what I remember about her, I think she would defend you against anyone who complains about your decision."
Neji considered Sasuke's words. Regardless of Hinata's influence, he wasn't naïve enough to believe that the Main House would accept the removal of his Cursed Seal quietly. On the other hand, there had been a great deal of disgust directed towards the Hyuuga Main House by the general village population following Neji's revelation about the Cursed Seal during his match with Naruto. If the Main House tried to retaliate against him in any way, the rest of the village would most likely turn against them, perhaps even appealing to the Hokage for some sort of official censure of the clan. In truth, even some within the clan had begun to question the wisdom of the Cursed Seal. It created anger and resentment between the Main and Branch Houses, dividing the family and thus weakening them. Plus, some worried that the hatred of the Main House that simmered within many of the Branch House members would eventually boil over. If that happened, it could lead to violence that would make the Uchiha massacre look like a friendly disagreement by comparison. The discovery that the Cursed Seals could be removed might be the catalyst the clan needed to finally do away with the barbaric practice.
Slowly, Neji removed his hitai-ate and turned to face Sasuke. Sasuke ran through a series of seals and placed his hands on Neji's forehead. Neji felt something slipping away from him, as if a terrible fever had just broken. I'm free…
Several nights later, the team arrived back in Konoha. People greeted Sasuke with joy, suspicion, or uncertainty. They were all paying so much attention to the Uchiha that no one really noticed Neji as he detached himself from the crowd and wandered slowly across the village to the Hyuuga compound. Stepping inside, he let out a tired sigh. The journey back from Orochimaru's base had been a long one, and he wanted to rest. He had started down the hall towards his room when he paused and turned back. In the entrance foyer of the Hyuuga compound, a large birdcage sat on a stand. A pair of bright yellow canaries sat inside the cage, sleeping with their heads tucked under their wings. Neji strode over to the cage, and the birds woke at his approach, twittering inquisitively. A toy for the canaries, featuring a round mirror, hung on one wall of the cage. Removing his hitai-ate, Neji bent down to peer in the small mirror. He smiled slightly at the sight of his unblemished forehead. He gazed at the two birds for a moment, then hooked his finger around the latch that held the cage door closed. He pulled the door open, and his smile grew as the birds flew out of their cage and into the embrace of freedom.
A/N: I'm really sorry it took me so long to update this! I had a writer's block about it for a while, and then when I finally got ideas for the second chapter, I got swamped with end-of-semester work. Anyway, here is the second part of the story. Please review, and Happy New Year's everyone!