So sorry to keep you all waiting. Tech issues with getting chapters updated, but now things are back to normal.

The end is here, and I feel it. :D I'm happy with the flow and have no regrets, and please leave a review.

Chapter Seven

Showdown with the Snake

Deidara did not like any of this one bit. Clowns...zombies...and GHOSTS!

Now you ask him what the hell they were going to do now that Orochimaru just got Kisame and the boys hostage as he said over Itachi's phone, which was a major red flag in the danger book. In the movies, in the books and everything with and about the spirits of the dead which would come out at a specific time of year - or any time they wished - and in this case was one "snake" slithering over the speakers about Itachi's younger brother.

The blond had never been so scared in his life, not even on the past Halloweens of his life. Sasori had never been so flipped, either. His partner hardly reacted this way, always being the big man - but oh, boy, his redhead danna was losing his wits, though Tobi was a wreck and sniveling between them.

Itachi sat in the front, right next to Hidan, glaring at the road ahead and sometimes down at his phone in case the specter tried again. He'd already tried Sasuke's phone, with the speaker on, and of course, Orochimaru hissed that "calls are futile. Don't try the law if you want things worse." The law is definitely out of the question. Whatever happens tonight stays between us all even if one or all of us die.

Oh, man, he didn't want to die; he didn't want to die! He was too damned young!

Hidan wasn't helping much even though he was trying. "I got all the goddamned equipment loaded from the church," he was saying, "and with my own jar of the remaining sacrificial goat's blood for a souvenir to place beside my bed, so I could make a good ass candle out of it." Deidara felt his stomach churn then and there, slapping his hand over his mouth. He really wanted to throw up now from everything tonight and now hearing about this. "The holy water, the family scythe, the scripture..."

"Yeah, un, anything to banish the ghost of Orochimaru?" Deidara cut in impatiently.

"Son of a bitch lived in the time of my great-granddaddy finding the family communion. In fact, I must add that Great-Granddad's own sister was one of the last victims before that bastard was gunned down by the police force." Hidan sighed as if deep in sentimentality, before his eyes flared up; Deidara, his boyfriend and Tobi saw this from the back in the rearview mirror. "Never learned what became of Oro-perv's remains, either. So many of us think they were left behind where he was shot all the way to hell..."

Itachi spoke up for the first time in a while. "Which means that if we find the remains - if it's possible - then we destroy them, and perhaps it could send him away for good," he said, almost quietly, stirring the entire car.

Deidara felt the cold sweat come forth. Oh, yes...just like in the movies. Destroy the remains or an icon that was part of their old life, and the spirit goes away...but what if that doesn't work? He worriedly looked between Sasori and Tobi, then Itachi and Hidan in the front. Sasori was scowling deep in thought, and it was obvious how the masked buffoon was taking this. Hidan's brow was furrowed, although he was smirking with so many ideas that a priest could conjure up when it came to exorcism, evil spirits and so on...and Itachi was glaring ahead at the road over whatever the madman's ghost could be doing to his little brother, Kisame and the blond clown himself.

~o~

"Holy shit, teme," Naruto whispered fearfully, clinging to him, "it IS him!"

Orochimaru...the myth is true. Whose voice could it be?

Kisame bared his teeth as he glared up at their surroundings. "Whoever the hell you are, you don't scare me!" he called up, clenching his fists. "I've got more than you think I do, and I know you won't have the impact last for long on Itachi and the boys! They'll be back; I know it!"

Sasuke glared up at him. "Shark-Face, being tough won't be enough. Neither will just standing here. Itachi said to fight back if necessary," he said. Sasuke, you might be scared underneath as I am in the face of danger...but damn it, yeah, at least you're taking one of your big brother's words of wisdom to heart. Naruto flashed his million-watt grin.

But then he felt it slip when he remembered what Kisame said about a clown. "Ummm...you said something about a clown..."

"Yeah, but I didn't see one," the man grunted. "If there IS one, then it's some jokester scaring us all." His brows creased then. "If so, might be the one talking to us from wherever the hell -" On cue, the voice interrupted him and hissed, followed by a disgusting slurp as if licking lips.

"Oh, no need to ponder your useless theory any further. The buffoon within these walls is of no concern to me. I won't make myself known unless necessary." There was a pause before a giggling chuckle broke out. "And I have seemed to have found my prize and at a perfect timing."

"If you really are Orochimaru," Sasuke returned, "then you really did a damned good job picking tonight of all nights!"

Only...why now? And why US? Naruto began to bite his nails as he thought of himself being next on the list, or to lose his best friend - and this big guy looking like a shark in front of them? He wasn't close to Kisame Hoshigaki, but the guy was Itachi's friend and therefore their big protection at the moment. The three of them had to work together - but HOW do you fight against something you couldn't see?!

Shit, this was worse than the movies.

And the answer received made him nearly pass out, while Sasuke stood by his side and growled at the unseen marauder; Kisame clenched his fists and looked around the room for any kind of weapons they could use to defend themselves. Naruto hadn't been there for some time now, but he remembered the Uchiha family having a somewhat armory of every kind of weapon from their ancestral times. But conventional weapons against an evil spirit who would show himself only when he wanted to? He gulped.

"Who else than dear Sasuke? The one I watched all this time, and I confess I have never seen such a poor tortured soul as he in all my condemned years..."

Oh, now he was going to puke...and he did just that. That moment of weakness was enough for Kisame to whirl around and scoop him up, Sasuke following him and the three of them running up the stairs. They made way for Sasuke's bedroom, closing and locking the door. The bedroom has to be the safest.

"Ugh, now Itachi and I have a mess to clean up," Sasuke complained, locking the door, but damn it, a ghost could get in if he wanted to.

Naruto glared at him as Kisame put him down. "Can we forget about the vomit and remember the fact that THE Orochimaru is out there, outside that door?!"

Sasuke pressed his back against the door and exhaled, glowering at the floor. "He was supposed to be just a joke," he said sharply. "But we all heard his voice, we heard what he wanted..." The shine on his forehead was there. "And my brother and the assholes left us all here!" he said angrily, glaring up at Kisame who shrugged and stepped back by one.

"Alright, I admit, I didn't think I'd fall for this. But what the hell do we do now? I should have done what Itachi asked and got us all out of here." Oh, yeah, Fish Man, you should have done it for all our sakes!

Naruto sat up and raised his voice. "You guys, we have better things to think of now instead of fighting. So, how about we get the hell out of here -"

BANG!

He screamed and jumped off the bed and into Kisame's arms as all attention was directed towards the window. Now all three of them screamed like girls at the sight of the CLOWN at the window. THIS WAS WHAT GOT ITACHI, SASORI, DEIDARA AND TOBI OUT OF HERE?!

The monstrous circus freak waved at them once before reaching up to take its face off. The calm washed over them before dismay took place when they saw who it was, and Sasuke was the one to stalk over and tear the window open to let the person in.

"Choji, what the hell are you doing?!"

~o~

"Okay, bastards, we arm up and storm in to cleanse the Uchiha house once and for all; how does that sound?"

Hidan...you're too revved up for your own good. My brother is in danger, and so are Kisame and Naruto. It's life-or-death. Itachi stood with Tobi and the couple as they gathered around Hidan's truck which was now parked not that far away from the house; to be exact, in the street and down the block. The streets were cleaned by now, which meant all families were safe at home at this hour of the night.

There lay in the back of the pickup was an array of "holy tools": the water, goat blood as well as salt and such, and assorted blades and guns. "Holy shit, you're above and beyond the average Holy Man," Deidara gasped, paler than the ghosts that scared them all tonight. "What do you do, witch hunts?!"

"Close enough. Tonight wasn't eventful, but you all say that the damned Orochimaru came forth from that damned board of your brother's!" Hidan declared when he looked at Itachi in the eyes. "Now we send him to hell from whence he came!"

"Idiot," Sasori spat, "don't you realize that your boasting will send us all to death? This is what happens in the movies!"

"S-S-Sasori, this is real life, not the movies!" Tobi insisted. "You saw it all yourself! Look, we have Hidan, what we have to make do with...and didn't Sasuke also tell us that Orochimaru's body was never found?" He looked at the Uchiha who pursed his lips.

The remains still there...wherever they are, that must be the answer. If we destroy the remains, will it be the end of this?

"Yes," Itachi said finally, accepting a weapon which was a gun; he watched as Tobi was given an equal weapon of holy water, and both Sasori and Deidara were given a crossbow. The redhead wasn't letting his lover go no matter what, and because of Deidara's condition, it was necessary. Now Hidan himself carried his blessed crucifix and armed himself with a loaded rifle and assorted blades around his waist, ready to hunt. The white-haired man beamed, his teeth bright in the dark.

"Then it's settled: we find the remains and then blow them all to hell, bless the house again and sing praises to Jashin." Itachi rolled his eyes, but nodded. Anything to get tonight out of the way, since Orochimaru WAS said to be awake on Halloween, and if he ever came back in the future, he would gladly fight to the death for his brother and his friends around him.

Then all was broken out in a howl to the moon.

"OH, NO! THEY'RE BACK!" Tobi screeched, diving behind Hidan. All eyes snapped ahead...and there stood three zombies like the ones seen in the distant road before the Jashinist came to their aid. Itachi growled and stalked over, raising his gun and was prepared to shoot. He had no time for this; Sasuke, Kisame and Naruto waited for them and needed them -

Then one of them screamed and lifted both hands for surrender, making him halt and raise both eyebrows - before all three raised their hands to their heads and pulled their MASKS off.

"No, Uchiha-san, it's just us!" Rock Lee, one of Sasuke and Naruto's friends, cried, still raising both his hands. "Don't shoot us! We all were just -"

Deidara's eyes bulged before reverting back to normal, and his features twisted furiously. "Oh, un, a prank! I should have realized it! You damned brats really went too far, didn't you?! Just to get back at us for ruining the party earlier?"

If this is the case... "You really have pushed my buttons too far now," Itachi snarled when Kiba Inuzuka and then Shikamaru Nara showed themselves. "In the morning when Detective Morino learns about this, you're all in for it now. But right now, I have better problems to deal with, and my brother and Naruto are in there needing us rather than the lot of you." He nodded for Hidan to lead the way, but they were all stopped when Kiba protested.

"Before you do, we haven't heard from Choji. He was the clown, and he hasn't come back to us yet. We don't know if something happened..." He trailed off then and there, turning white as if he'd seen a ghost...

"Oh, the fat kid was the circus freak, wasn't he?!" Deidara said angrily, kicking a piece of gravel ahead of him. "Un, he's going to face my wrath!" Sasori shook him gently to quiet and calm down, holding onto his forearm with one hand and their shared weapon in the other.

Itachi turned around to calmly look at him. "As much as I agree, right now seems we have four people in need of our help." He returned his attention to the other three. "I don't have time to explain to the three of you, but we could use your assistance. Hidan, Lee, Tobi and I will go through the front entrance, and Sasori and Deidara will join Inuzuka and Nara in the back. Once we are inside, we will decide who to split up without being in small numbers. The more of us together, the higher chance we have of survival and getting out with the hostages intact."

~o~

Choji just had to come at a time like this - and he had to find out that their FRIENDS had orchestrated the clown scare, and the snack-lover had told the three of them this: at the present, Shikamaru, Kiba and Lee were the ones busy in zombie gear against Itachi and his gang.

Well, glad they did more of the job for us...but look now. It's just us four.

"I knew it, I knew it," Kisame had said with a baring of the teeth that made poor Choji shrink into Naruto, "and Itachi had to run out with the scared little girl crowd when I was telling them all along -"

"I tried to tell Kiba it wasn't needed, and the cops had already been on him as it was; I said that this was going to be enough trouble as it was!" Choji, still in clown gear sans mask, insisted as he and Naruto sat down on the edge of the bed, with Sasuke and Shark Face standing over them like interrogators. "He had made the best party ever this year, so he wanted to pay back Itachi for interrupting again! He did orchestrate the toss-out," he added when he nervously looked up at Kisame whose leer got bigger and bigger with each "tasty" revelation. Sasuke confessed that, despite the bigger threat outside that door of his bedroom, he was enjoying this and couldn't resist a small grin to one corner of his mouth.

Naruto gulped and stifled a giggle. "I think all of that was pure genius. I would have loved to see the cold-faced Itachi screaming and running for his life if he did..." He trailed off when he remembered this was no laughing matter. He gulped. "But now they've left us here with a GHOST."

"The ghost of Orochimaru?" Choji exclaimed, eyes bulging before returning to normal. "Oh, hell, Ma and Pop used to tell me about him." His poor face broke out in the sweats, as well. "Oh, man, oh, damn...we're all going to die, aren't we, Sasuke?"

All eyes were on him. He reeled. Oh, they assume I have the plan! Just great...

And then it dawned on him. That bastard wanted him, right? Maybe...

Itachi, I might do you a favor. You've put up with me all this time, but all I had been was nothing but a burden to you. I hated you for hounding me after our parents died, I hated you for never paying attention to me, and so many other things...but you were all I had left of our family. You felt like you failed me in every step of the way. And the last time we spoke, I said I hated you, aniki...

He felt the tear slip down his cheek. He hoped no one noticed, but Naruto had the hawk eye. Perhaps he could give himself up so his friends and Kisame were safe - then Itachi if he ever came back. If he had to say so, in addition, Itachi might come back for them...

He wasn't going to accomplish anything by just standing here. "No," he said in answer to Choji's question. "I am going back out there. I'll deal with him myself."

All three pairs bulged out into white balls comically, and the cries were all mixed up.

"Sasuke, you TEME! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! YOU THINK I'LL STAND BY AND LET THE LIKES OF THAT SNAKE-GHOST PIECE OF CRAP TAKE YOU AWAY?!" Naruto erupted, face burning furiously.

Choji had enormous tears streaming down his face. "Oh, hell, and I thought tonight would just remain like real life always has been, and we never had to worry about real ghosts, goblins and all that!"

"Kid, you have any idea what this will do to your big brother?!" Kisame demanded when he stalked over and put both hands on Sasuke's shoulders. "You think that would resolve all your issues with Itachi?! You think you're doing us all a big favor like this? I say we do the smart thing according to that damned story and stay in here until Itachi and the others get back."

Sasuke glared at them all, furious beyond belief. Just sit here and do nothing? That was the last thing he wanted to do.

Little did he - and the rest - know was that Itachi and the others DID just return and were now on the hunt for the "hostages" and the unseen menace within the walls of the Uchiha house.

~o~

Everyone was here, and now both groups - his own and the other's - were facing each other and with each of their goals in mind. He and Hidan were going to stay downstairs and set up the Jashin rites. Hidan's family deity was like no other death or eternally living god in existence, but he wasn't Shinigami, either.

"We set up the circle here," Hidan announced, sliding his weapon over one shoulder as he immediately got to work with the goat's blood he brought in, explaining that it was necessary to create the emblem and recite the scripture. "The rest of you know what to do." Tobi stayed with them since he would only get in the others' way, no offense. Even though Itachi Uchiha's history with his brother's and Naruto's friends was far from cordial, he trusted their judgment enough tonight to their roles.

Lee and Kiba would go look for their friends and Kisame, leaving Sasori, Deidara and Shikamaru to hunt the basement, because where else would the skeletal remains of Orochimaru be after all these years?

"You can count on us, Uchiha-san!" Rock Lee declared, and Kiba grinned like the dog lover he was, then the both of them were up the stairs, but it wasn't long-lived. Both boys screamed, and from where he was, Itachi saw why and swallowed. The trio before him and his group saw, too, but he urged them to hurry on with their part before it was too late.

A great long appendage of shining, silver-tinted white scales lashed out at the boys, but they had such great reflexes they dodged it. There was no mistaking it to be a snake's tail.

Orochimaru is either in snake form, or he summoned one on his own.

He decided to grab his weapon and join the fight since Hidan and Tobi made do without him. The damned thing's body blocked Sasuke's bedroom door, which made it possible to assume that his brother, Kisame and Naruto were all in there and may not have been touched by the ghost, after all. However, it was too early to breathe a sigh of relief. Kiba was held upside down around the ankle by the serpentine demon...and Itachi found himself face-to-face with a snake face bearing yellow eyes and a wild mane of dark hair, nothing humanistic or even remotely demonic - but a gruesome combination. Snarling, Itachi threw himself over, narrowly missing the thing's jaws which advanced his way.

Having gone to the dojo for years, Itachi knew various forms of ninjutsu, which many of the town familiarized and passed onto their next generations since founding times. With a yell, Itachi brought a kunai blade down onto the serpent's jaw, causing a terrible hiss of pain and a snapping close of the deadly fangs.

He landed on his side and in front of the door he needed in no time. He slammed on it harshly. "SASUKE! NARUTO, KISAME!"

The door opened, and he found himself in a suffocating hold and a burst of breathless sobs.

"Itachi, I'm so sorry!" his brother cried, holding onto him. The elder stilled, a wave of indescribable emotion washing over him when it was the wrong time. Sasuke hadn't done this since their parents died. Nevertheless, he returned the embrace before releasing Sasuke in time for Kisame and Naruto to fly past them and barely miss the giant white serpent which focused its attention on the energetic and howling Lee.

"No, you don't get any of this! Not after you face the wrath of springtime youth and the allied forces combined!" Impressively so, his kick struck back the tail that came at him again; Kiba had fallen but regained himself and was now running for the stairs. Which was their cue to make way while the damned monster was distracted. Itachi admitted that the most "youthfully energetic" of Naruto and Sasuke's friends had the situation covered for them...but he hoped the young lad wouldn't be devoured on this night before his time would be up.

~o~

When the three of them made it to the basement, they all heard the commotion, but there was no time to stay and see, because they had to hurry down the basement, and thankfully, Shikamaru had enough time for an explanation and idea as to where the body could be hiding...and it might as well take them all night, but not for long.

"For all we know, the bones could have been hidden within the brick walls."

The walls...oh, willies, again. Deidara was always scared of things in the walls. Like, often they were stowed away because the fear of the police as well as damaged reputation would overtake reason - but his thoughts were interrupted when Sasori sneered as he helped Deidara down the stairs because he'd lost his canes somewhere in the house. "Are you sure it isn't buried in the ground somewhere? If so, then we'd require pickaxes and shovels, and we might all die before we save our skins."

"Look," Shikamaru said in exasperation as he turned on the lights, "the walls are obvious choices -"

They ventured deeper and deeper, avoiding the old costumes and towers of boxes, instead finding exposed brick beyond the barriers. Gulping, Deidara looked upon the expanse, threatening to break out or wet his pants again, but he forced himself to be brave, because Itachi would have his head if he wasn't - but it seemed fate was "kind" to them when it seemed they didn't have to break down the walls.

Several bricks erupted forward, debris flying into their eyes, but that wasn't all. Deidara heard himself shriek before screaming when a SKELETON came forward and landed right onto him. Sasori and Shikamaru flinched and coughed out what had gotten into their mouths before helping get the cursed thing off of him. The Nara kid held the complete bag of bones a good distance - before something shiny caught their attention.

Around the skeleton's neck was an amulet. Golden bronze, with the center swirling with a snake of dull silver, extending its fangs and slithering out its tongue. The skeleton of Orochimaru himself.

~o~

"Itachi, I'm so sorry!"

His brother had come as he'd known he would. The first thing Sasuke did was throw himself onto Itachi and weep, cry out those words. He wanted so much to have Itachi as his brother again, to say more, but there was a great crisis: a giant white snake with a demonic human head was attacking them.

Lee was a fabulous, energetic fighter and won the championship in the last two years. "No, you don't get any of this! Not after you face the wrath of springtime youth and the allied forces combined!" he yelled, striking a blow to the tail that lashed his way, no longer paying attention to Kiba who was now flipped out of his pants, running for the stairs which Naruto and Kisame were now bounding for, but the dobe was far more panicked than the shark man was. Itachi held onto Sasuke as the brothers followed - but Sasuke wasn't happy with this. He hated being weak; he wanted to save Lee, and he knew one way to step in against this white demon with yellow eyes and shocking, coarse-looking dark hair.

Downstairs, near the bottom of the stairs, Hidan was just finishing painting the floor red with a strange emblem of a triangle within a circle - blood. Sasuke's stomach lurched, but he didn't pay attention to that any more than towards the THING Shikamaru, Sasori and Deidara were hauling towards the Jashin priest - and it was a skeleton. Orochimaru's. If it was in the basement like I thought, then oh, good. Destroying the remains is all we have to do.

He tore from his brother's hold and ran in the other direction. "Sasuke!" Itachi yelled to him.

"I have to help Lee!" he shouted back over his shoulder. "I won't let my friends die!"

Naruto joined him on the bat then and there. "I'm right with you, teme! If you're going to kick snake ass, I'm going to stop being a chicken now and help you! All of you, stay here and help with the destruction of the skeleton!" All voices in the air were more than happy to agree. Tobi clapped happily at his bravery, and Deidara raised his hand and gave a small wave before it turned into a thumbs up which made Sasori roll his eyes but smile. Kisame was all but snickering that two teenage boys were going to jump into the action while the rest of them stayed down. Kiba and Choji were at the end of the stairs, giving them the thumbs up, too, but Lee...

Now here they were in the family armory, and the first thing Sasuke Uchiha saw that was perfect for him was on the wall, on a mantle: the Sword of Kusanagi. Hilted with black, the blade measured to be longer than average, but the exact length was never cared to be recorded. However, it was capable of cutting through anything in its path. "Let's put this to the test, Naruto!" Sasuke said, pulling the heavy weapon from its place. "Get what you have to!"

The blond picked up a bo stick, making him roll his eyes and snort. But what did it matter? They had each other's backs, so what could go wrong?

They passed the group which surrounded Hidan, all holding onto each other; Itachi was alone and beside the white-haired man himself who was holding up a gold-and-silver charm - a snake pendant - over the remains which had been poured over with salt and holy water, and he chanted in a foreign language that the Uchiha brothers and the rest could not understand. In Hidan's other hand was a jagged blade handled with smooth leather and etched on the hilt with the same crest for his god.

Sasuke's legs burned when he ran up the stairs with the weapon, Naruto behind him. The snake had Lee knocked against the wall beside the top of the stairs - and those vicious yellow eyes and deadly fangs dripping with saliva were directed at him and his friend, both staying frozen in place.

That voice - "Sasuke, it's just us now - but your little friend is in the way."

He quickly stepped before Naruto protectively, and in return, the dobe stuck his tongue out. "Like hell your scaled ass will take my friend, you rotten bastard!" He whipped out the long stick he held while Sasuke followed suit and brandished the great sword. The sight only made the serpent laugh.

"You want a fight, I see. Well, then...you are MINE, SASUKE!"

With that, the great white snake that was Orochimaru lunged forward, hissing and hungry for him...

...but he landed atop the head and brought down the blade on the back of the neck. He wanted to deliver a fatal blow, and so he aimed to try and cut this guy's head off. He enjoyed a challenge, but because he wasn't what you would call an experienced fighter, he wished to draw this to a close as quickly as possible. Whatever Hidan was doing - if it were an exorcism, and the skeletal remains were important - then that would really end the job for Sasuke.

And delivering a fatal slice was what he did, for the blade cleanly cut through hard scales, muscles, sinew and bone. The head and great body collapsed onto the floor of the hallway. Gore poured out from the headless length, a putrid smell reaching his nostrils and Naruto's. The blond pinched his nose and flinched.

"Ew, that smells worse than the garbage at school - but WHOO, SASUKE, YOU DID IT!" Naruto hollered, going over and surprising him with bringing down the stick on the severed head with a WHACK that slackened the jaw. The yellow eyes remained opened, unseeing, but while Sasuke was relieved and satisfied at the sight, he knew this was still far from over. Knowing those damned movies and stories, the culprit would always come back.

But if the snake is done for, then maybe the man will appear himself now.

"Come, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, grabbing the other by the shirt and running down the stairs, not before they both stopped to help Lee stand and hurry down to join the others. Itachi was before them, taking his turn with Lee and supporting him just as Hidan was holding up the amulet higher with the knife. He was done with the sacred rites and now spoke loudly with his own foul language which Jashin didn't seem to ever care about - "Begone to hell, Orochimaru bitch-ass, from whence you came!" - but why should Sasuke? It wasn't like he'd ever been scared of death...

...except he'd been that night the car had been purposefully crashed into. The car which had himself, his brother and their parents. By a competitor who had been placed in prison for only a minimum of the deserved sentence. Orphaning him and placing Itachi on the pedestal of responsibility for his baby brother who was also all he had left.

And I turned on my own brother because I didn't know how to deal with growing up so quickly.

"You guys should have seen Sasuke!" Naruto was saying excitedly despite the fact everyone was far from thrilled. "He cut off the head of the beast!" Except it seemed the declaration had more of an effect than intended, for grins and applause sounded from everyone, except Hidan who was in the middle of the ritual - and this was applying goat blood to the amulet in the Jashin crest with the knife - before chilling laughter filled the air once more. The air became as cold as the one unseen who began to speak again.

"Did you truly think that your puny cutting of the head could end the likes of me, Sasuke-kun?"

Silvery smoke materialized before them all. Deidara and Tobi howled in horror and threw themselves onto Sasori and Choji, Kiba cowering behind a scowling Shikamaru if remaining on both feet. Itachi narrowed his eyes as he stood before his younger brother and Naruto.

This man was Orochimaru.

Long black hair, pallid skin and the same eyes - the entire face looking very much like a vampire with the excuse called flesh stretched over the bones. His smile stretched ear to ear, then baring his teeth and parting them to let an abnormally long tongue slither out and lick his lips, drawing moans of despair and disgust.

Hidan had such perfect timing when he swore and brought the knife down to the amulet he'd slammed to the wooden floor next to the skeleton. "Let Jashin judge you for the agony you caused those in your time!" The strike to the center of the pewter snake amidst dull gold caused a deep, fragile crack to split the charm in half.

Orochimaru's eyes widened with unbridled horror.

"NOOOOO!"

Sasuke held onto Itachi from behind as he watched along with his brother, Naruto, and their friends as the pale ghost disoriented into a formless mist which began to crackle with bits of lightning as the one thing that kept his spirit alive but dormant for decades was destroyed before his very eyes.

The smoke spiraled about at random before going forth and being suctioned into the broken halves of the snake pendant...and it was back together as though nothing had happened.

To follow: the skeletal remains crumbled into dust.

All was silent, save for heavy breathing and shock that it was all over. And the clock was well after midnight, but no one truly paid attention to the exact time. It was very late, and yet the forces of evil had been defeated. The Uchiha brothers and their friends all remained in their places for a long time, staring at the remains of the rite that ended with a success, their lives all saved, and the handful of the lot held onto their loved ones in case of Sasori and Deidara, the remainders looking about with great relief...and now Sasuke found himself looking up into the eyes of his brother.

He didn't think he'd see Itachi's eyes shine, threatening to spill the tears. The message was crystal clear: My brave little brother. The younger threw his arms around the elder, weeping softly and witnessed by Naruto who was on the verge of blubbering, Kisame snickering to himself, and the rest of them were dusting themselves off from some of the bone matter that had gotten onto them but trying not to laugh as release of pressure.

"Please...I'm so sorry, Itachi...for everything," he whispered, letting himself cry with happiness that they were alive - and swore to never treat his beloved aniki the way he had again. He wanted to do everything he could to make everything right again. He felt Itachi's arms wrap around him and his lips place a chaste, brotherly kiss on his forehead.

"I love you, otouto."

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about, teme!" Naruto hollered, slapping a high five with Kisame who had come beside him just for a better glance.

The dust of bones was being scooped up by a smirking Hidan, in the meantime, while the dark and intense atmosphere slowly lightened up with the reconciling brothers and tearful witnesses in the dead of the night.

OH GOD MY HEAD HURTS. Not that I didn't have a great time with this, but I hope the climax is satisfactory enough, and it was even harder because it departs into REAL supernatural, and this ending had to also be where the brothers reconcile in dire circumstances (took Sasuke long enough, huh?), and their friends coming with them to stop the real menace: OROCHIMARU IN SNAKE/GHOST FORM! :O

Reviews appreciated. :) This was extremely fun, slightly different from usual.