Is it finally done? Is it? I think it is! This fight is finally over! (But not the story yet; no, we've got a ways still to go.)

Thanks to SpecialLittleSnowflake for your awesome review!

Sasuke raised the cutlass before him and got ready to strike.

"You're seriously going to keep resisting?" Pein asked incredulously. "After everything that's happened? When half your fighting force is gone? When you know you have no hope?"

"No hope?" Sasuke asked with a grim smile, tightening his fingers around the hilt of the sword. "As long as we're still alive, there's hope. We will defeat you!"

"Oh, you will, will you?" Pein asked, a red anger starting to flash in his eyes. "You and what army?"

From high in the air, a familiar voice rang out. "Actually, this army."

Pein had to turn around in order to see what Sasuke could see just by raising his eyes: a sky full of ghosts, with Shikamaru, Kiba and Shino at their head. He was unable to help himself; his mouth fell open in shock as he saw the massive scope of the spectral army - for an army it indeed was - spread out before them. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of ghosts, from specters all the way to draugrs. Scanning the crowd, Sasuke spotted a few familiar faces - Gaara, the sand draugr, hanging off Lee's arm, the doctor Tsunade, the specter of a fisherman that Sasuke recognized as the one always sitting on the sidewalk, a young girl he recognized as the oldest ghost in the village - amongst the masses of ghosts he either hadn't met or had only seen in passing. It looked like the entire spectral population of Konoha had come out to gather in force and protect their home.

Then the combined energy of all the ghosts hit him at once, and Sasuke doubled over as if someone had sucker punched him in the gut, almost losing his footing and falling down into the sand. Normally this wouldn't happen to him if he were around a large population of ghosts, even as large a population as this one, but since he had activated his Sharingan eyes, the amount of spectral energy in the air was dangerous to him now.

The Sharingan powers of the Uchiha worked by copying and briefly stealing the powers of all the ghosts within a certain radius of the user, allowing them to fight offensively against strong ghosts without having to use a physical weapon, though they often used those as well. It was often a last resort, however, because the user could never be sure exactly how much energy or what kind of power he was going to receive. Most ghosts who would pick a fight usually had telekinesis and manipulation as their only defensive powers, but sometimes they would utilize these in new ways to make it seem like they had an individualized power, like Tobi's telekinesis movement of his jacks or Hidan's manipulation of his silver sword. The few exceptions to this rule were ghosts who had had a unique power in life that they had retained in death, like Deidara's fire. When fighting, the Sharingan worked best against one or a very small group, usually no more than five, for two reasons: one, because it was easier to turn each individual ghost's power against them in those odds, and two, because that was about how much spectral energy a live human body could hold before it started to fight back, as Sasuke's body was doing now.

Sasuke fell to one knee, the silver cutlass slipping out of his grip and disintegrating before it hit the sand, as a fresh wave of pain tore through his abdomen. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself back off the ground and into a standing position. Well, it appeared that the amount of raw power coursing through his system had completely blown away the effects of Pein's poison, so Sasuke guessed there was a silver lining in everything. He startled at the feeling of a hand at his elbow, only to relax when he saw that it was just Neji. The Hyuuga was looking at him in concern, but Sasuke brushed off both the concern and the pain, straightening up completely and surveying the scene in front of him.

As Sasuke saw it, he had two options now: he could deactivate his Sharingan, stopping the crippling flow of energy into his body but also leaving him devoid of any defense, or he could do something crazy and far more dangerous. Looking up at Pein, Sasuke saw that, while he did look considerably less sure of himself now, he didn't look like he was going to back down any time soon.

Crazy it was, then.

Turning to Neji, Sasuke said, "Catch me."

Those two words were all it took for Neji to understand what Sasuke was going to do, but even as his mouth opened to silently try and talk him out of it, Sasuke had already closed his eyes and activated the second level of his Sharingan, and he promptly fainted dead away into Neji's waiting arms.

Or at least his physical body did.

Dropping the gun in his haste to catch Sasuke's lifeless body collapsing into his arms, Neji gave the incorporeal Sasuke standing in front of him a glare that said he was very, very angry at him before lowering Sasuke's physical body onto the sand to lay next to Tenten's. But Sasuke didn't care; he felt amazing! The pain that had plagued his physical body was gone, as well as the limitations it placed on his eyes. The energy siphoned from a thousand ghosts roared through him like a typhoon, making him feel like he could take on the world.

In the back of his mind, Sasuke knew that this was dangerous, that he shouldn't be feeling this strange volatility, but he couldn't bring himself to care. For the first time, he had no fear of losing, and that relief made his head swim deliciously.

We can do this! Sasuke thought to himself, conjuring up another silver cutlass, this one shining almost too brightly to look at from the spectral energy thrumming through its length. His head held high, he raised the sword in preparation to strike.

Only to be stopped by a soft sound behind him, one that sounded suspiciously like a sniffle.

Sasuke whirled around to look behind him, completely floored by what he saw. Naruto was backing away from him, tears spilling freely from his eyes. A sob shook his small frame, which was aging backwards into the form of a small child, the form Sasuke had first met him in. Immediately, a sense of guilt washed over Sasuke; how long had Naruto been standing like that, crying his eyes out while Sasuke hadn't even been paying attention to him?

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked in quiet concern, dropping the sword to his side. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Naruto sobbed, taking another step back from Sasuke. "Everything, that's what's wrong! This is wrong, it's not right, I know it! No one should have to fight for me! No one should have to get hurt because… because I have some stupid fucking curse! It's not right!"

"Naruto…" Sasuke took a step towards the phantom, but Naruto curled in on himself and thrust out a hand to stay him.

"No! Don't come any closer! I... I'm a monster! You shouldn't have to protect me!"

"Naruto!" Sasuke closed the distance between himself and the phantom and shook him, not even realizing that he'd dropped his sword along the way. "None of us is doing anything we don't want to do!"

Shikamaru had a less eloquent way of putting it.

"Wake up, Naruto!" He snapped. "This isn't just about you, or me, or even Sasuke anymore! This is about protecting our home!"

Naruto started trembling like a leaf in Sasuke's grasp. "But… but…"

His words were cut off as Sasuke pulled him in close, hugging him tightly to his chest. Perhaps it was just because of his now ghostly state, but Sasuke thought Naruto felt a little cooler to the touch, a little more like a body and a little less like a furnace. Slowly, the sobs wracking Naruto's body weakened and grew less frequent until he lay quietly with his head on Sasuke's chest.

"I hate to break up this pity party, but-" Pein started, but cut himself off when a rock the size of a person's fist went sailing through his head. "The hell?"

Sasuke spun around, releasing Naruto instinctively, to see Sakura standing up, her arm lifted as if she'd just thrown something with all her might. He couldn't help it; he gasped reflexively, stunned that Sakura could gather up the courage to even attempt something like that. He wouldn't have, but then again, he also knew that a move like that wouldn't have any real affect on a ghost, only piss them off. As Pein appeared to be getting pissed off.

"Foolish girl!" He hissed, his eyes once again blinking red. "You'll pay for that with your life!"

"Oh, yeah?" Sakura taunted, clearly terrified but standing her ground, reaching down to find another rock. "You and what army?"

"Why, you insolent-" Pein cut off, choking on his own rage. He raised a hand to blast power at Sakura, and Sasuke immediately sprung into action, running forward to intercept the blow even though he knew there was no way he'd make it in time.

Except he did make it in time, for when he skidded to a stop, his arms raised and ready to ward off a blow, directly in the line of fire between Sakura and Pein, he found himself without a blow to ward off. Cautiously, he peeked over the top of his raised hands to see Pein frozen in the middle of his movement, a calculating look on his face. What was going on?

"You! Girl!" Pein commanded, pointing a long index finger at Sakura. "You can see us?"

"Of course I can fucking see you!" Sakura cried. "I chucked a rock at your damn head, didn't I?"

An intrigued gleam crept into Pein's eye. "And the others?" He gestured to the swarm of ghosts practically blocking out the sun. "You can see them as well?"

"Well, it's kinda hard to miss 'em, in't?"

"Hmm. Interesting… And when did this start?"

Sakura tensed up. "Why does it matter?"

"Just answer the question!" Pein snapped, a sudden fury radiating from his features so strong, it made Sakura take a step back in fear.

"A-about the time Naruto started glowing…"

Pein's face turned introspective for a moment, then his head snapped up and his gaze narrowed into an abrupt focus. "Alright, lads - and Deidara-"

"Fuck you."

"We're leaving."

"What?!" Sasuke stared, his mouth gaping open, at Pein's form as the ghost turned to leave. "You… You can't just leave!"

"And why not?" Pein asked coldly, his icy gaze raking over Sasuke like the burn of frostbite.

Sasuke was so flabbergasted that he couldn't even come up with a coherent thought, let alone a reason. "Because… Because…"

Shikamaru took over for him so he didn't have to. "Because we're not done with you, that's why!"

"Oh, really?" Pein turned his cold gaze on the phantom. "But we are done with you."

"But why?" Naruto cried. "A few minutes ago you were all set to rip all of us to pieces, and now you're going to leave just like that?"

"Yes," Pein stated simply. "I have reevaluated our standing and come to the conclusion that, with your added numbers, the chances of our success have become exponentially lower. Oh, we would end a great many of you - that much I have to doubt about - but at what cost? It is far too steep a price to pay for an object we no longer require."

Sasuke was dumbfounded. "No longer require? I thought you needed Naruto- I mean, the Kyuubi?"

"No, you idiot boy, we do not need anything," Deidara sneered. "We want to become human again."

"Precisely," Pein interrupted, shooting Deidara a warning look that had the ghost scrambling back away from him. "And I thought the Kyuubi could give us that, but I now realize I was mistaken."

"Why? Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"Because," Pein hissed from between clenched teeth, "We thought the Kyuubi could bring us back to life, but now that we've witnessed his powers, it has become clear to me that he only brings about the illusion of life, not life itself. Therefore, we have no use for him."

"But how can you know for certain?" Sasuke found himself arguing, even as his mind screamed at him not to confront the crazy psychopathic ghosts and just let them leave.

"I don't," Pein said simply, surprising everyone. "But now that our chances of success have dwindled dramatically, it's no longer a risk I'm willing to take. And so, we take our leave."

"Wait!"

This time it was Naruto's voice that stopped the Akatsuki, and Pein turned around again with a sigh. "What is it now, little ghost?"

Naruto visibly bristled at the insult, but shook it off to shout, "Then… You won't come back? We'll never see you again?"

"Yes, little ghost, we are leaving for good," Pein sneered, looking down on Naruto like he was an insect. "You'll never have to worry about us sullying your precious home again. After all…" Pein let his gaze roll over Naruto to land on Sasuke, who felt its chill pierce him to the bone when the Akatsuki smiled a cruel smile. "I have a new goal now."

Sasuke couldn't help but shudder when he thought of the ramification of that.

"And so," Pein said, drawing himself up higher in the air, "The time has come for us to leave you. I won't be forgetting you… Not for longer than your lifetime, at least."

Sasuke opened his mouth to - he wasn't really sure what, maybe call out, maybe try and stop the ghosts from leaving - but before he could, Pein whipped an acrid white mist around himself that made even Sasuke's ghostly eyes water, and when it dissipated, the four remaining Akatsuki were nowhere to be seen.

"Fuck!" Sasuke raced to where the Akatsuki had been a scant second before, as if he could grab the trailing remains of their auras and hold them in place.

Above his head, the ghosts of Konoha started to murmur amongst themselves and break rank. Even though there were many of them, most of them were only specters, and their mental functions, now devoid of a singular purpose, would soon start to shatter. He couldn't deny that they had helped in the fight, but it was never an option he would have taken because of exactly what was happening right now. In not too long, these ghosts, misplaced and confused, would be the dangerous ones.

"Shikamaru, get these ghosts out of here!" He called to the phantom, who nodded, his expression tight, then pointed behind Sasuke.

"I will, but you've got your own problem to look after."

Sasuke followed the direction Shikamaru's finger was pointing in to see Naruto swaying on his feet. Springing into action, he flew to the phantom's side just in time to catch his collapsing form in his arms. Like the sun going behind a cloud, the golden light that had been surrounding Naruto vanished, leaving him looking much younger and smaller than he had been. How old was his form now? Eight years? Ten?

Sweeping one arm under Naruto's legs, Sasuke picked the phantom up in a bridal carry and cradled him against his chest. He looked from the ghost in his arms to his body lying in the sand, and felt a twinge in his gut. He really should return to his body; it wasn't good for him to stay out of it for too long. Of course, he was quite aways from the dangerous limit, but it still wasn't a good idea to push that boundary too much.

"Neji, could you…?" Sasuke asked, inclining his chin towards Naruto.

Neji nodded, standing and dusting sand off his knees before holding his arms out to receive Naruto's insubstantial body, but when Sasuke tried to hand it to him, his hands when right through the ghost.

Damn, Naruto must not have enough energy left to even stay corporeal! Sasuke realized with a sinking sensation in his stomach. That means, right now, I'm the only one who can interact with him besides another ghost. He looked around for Shikamaru or one of the other phantoms, but they'd already cleared off, pushing the mass of specters and other ghosts before him. Guess that leaves me, then.

Straightening up, Sasuke said, "I'll bring him back to the Hokage. Meet me in my room with my body as soon as you're able."

His eyes narrowing slightly in annoyance at the order, Neji nodded, then reached down, pulled Tenten up by her hair, and slapped her once, hard, in the face. She screeched into consciousness like a car slamming on its brakes to avoid impact with another car, abruptly and with a horrible shrill sound like the squeal of tires. Sasuke turned his back on the scene and started floating away, in the direction of the Hokage. He trusted Neji to handle what was coming. He had his own job to do.