I honestly never thought I'd actually return to this fic. After over a year of hiatus due to a complete mental blockage, I sort of forgot about it and wrote other things, but after a review sent to me by a still-loyal fan (thank you, Draculina 3), I've suddenly found the inspiration to continue.

Please forgive the long hiatus. This fic is officially up and running again, and to those of you who are fans of this fic, I hope you will still read and review.

Can't move…

With an excruciatingly painful movement, he swept clouded, hazy eyes over the landscape, noting the three other bodies on the ground. Emerald eyes met sapphire ones, and lips feebly twisted into a humorless smirk as Gaara turned his head to look at Naruto. The blonde slowly craned his neck with a delicate, meticulous movement, almost as if his appendage were made of glass. A lump of deep indigo caught at his peripheral vision, and, keeping his head perfectly still, Naruto swept his eyes to the side. He highly suspected that the navy cloth sprawled on the ground was Masouna; Kimimaro's silvery body lay among the gently swaying rushes that were intermittently scattered along the path.

Well at least they were alive, albeit incapable of movement.

Naruto scrunched up his eyes and sat up in one bold movement, then wished he hadn't a second later when a wave of pain wracked his body. Cornflower eyes glanced down, and the blonde nearly backpedaled into a bush at the sight that lay before him.

His hand, normally tan and slightly callused from years of training, had turned a smoky transparent grey, exposing a network of veins and vessels to his view.

He whipped his head to the side despite the pain and glanced at Gaara. The redhead was also staring bemusedly at his smoky-white hand, though his reaction wasn't evident on his face. Slowly, so slowly, as Naruto looked on, the cloudy substance moved up the insomniac's arm and enshrouded his torso. What felt like something cold was creeping up his own arm, and Naruto watched in a sort of absent wonder as his hand slowly turned from smoky grey to a crystal clear hue. After a few more minutes, the outline of his hand completely disappeared, and when he looked at Gaara, he found the same to be true with the redhead.

Kimimaro had roused, and was experiencing the same reactions. Masouna had also sat up, the outline of his deep blue cloak slowly becoming transparent as well. A hesitant grin slowly blossomed on Naruto's mouth, then broke into a full-fledged grin as he raised himself up on his knees.

"WE DID IT!!"

He practically shot to his feet and started doing a wild sort of dance in the middle of the meadow, then shot straight to Kimimaro and tackled the startled Kaguya full in the waist. Kimimaro looked down at the blonde, a wry smile gracing elegant features. Given the fact that Naruto was already three-quarters transparent, the sight was quite peculiar.

"DID YOU SEE THAT???! WE DID IT!!! WE'RE TURNING INTO NOTHINGNESS!!" Naruto shrieked happily, squeezing Kimimaro with renewed vigor. He winced as his ribs noisily protested.

"That's….great, Naruto…but…could you let go?" He winced as a fresh wave of pain attacked his head. Naruto quickly released him with a sheepish grin.

"But…that's the FIRST TIME I've SUCCESSFULLY completed a jutsu THAT COMPLICATED!!! AREN'T YOU PROUD OF ME?!???" He called to the heavens. Kimimaro delicately stuck a finger in his ear, twisting ruefully.

"Yes, yes….I'm proud of you…." The Kaguya muttered almost distractedly.

A deep red flush spread across his cheeks as Naruto leaned up and lightly kissed him on the nose.

"Well well well. That was certainly entertaining. I don't believe I've ever seen such a delightfully vivid shade of red before." Masouna's delicate tenor oozed from the atmosphere. Kimimaro looked scandalized.

"What is our business stays our business." He hissed in the general direction of the smirking man.

"Oh, I am most dreadfully sorry that I've interrupted such a precious moment." Masouna purred silkily.

Naruto suddenly stiffened, eyes pricked and alert as he cut a gaze across the landscaping.

"What is it?" Gaara asked quietly. Naruto twitched.

"Nothingness. It's very faint, but I can feel it…." He paused, closed his eyes, then suddenly snapped a finger southwest.

"There. It's coming from there."

At once the quartet rose to its feet. A faint feeling of nausea rushed through the group as the effects of the jutsu protested within their bodies, but soon all four were gliding across the land in smooth crescents, weaving through the rushes and grasses of the plain. Fueled by Kyuubi's brightly-burning knowledge, Naruto led the way, his eyes glimmering with a sort of eager, hungry joy only present when risks were about to be taken.

The trail was becoming clearer; splotches of discoloration, now visible to their transformed eyes, were outlined on the grasses that lined the ground, as plain as day. A smirk flew across Naruto's face as he latched onto the trail and hung on for dear life, giving in to his body, letting his senses and instincts take over as they led him whipping past trees, through bushes, and around boulders as he sought the trail of the priestess. The blonde slanted a glance at the silver-haired man beside him; Kimimaro's face had taken on a mask of slack submission as he too surrendered to his instincts. It was a hunt in the most primal form, with all four members putting their complete and utter faith into the basest of instincts.

The trail was beginning to widen; fresh nothingness splashed the area in front of them, sending a wicked grin across Naruto's face as he accelerated. A figure soon loomed in the distance; a woman, dressed in the ritual robes of a priestess, sat on the bank of a lake, washing her hands in the clear, crystalline water.

Naruto dug a heel into the ground and skidded to a halt, watching as the others did the same. Together they crept, prowled noiselessly to where the woman sat, disturbing not a leaf on the thickly carpeted ground of the forest. Whispering to himself, the blonde reached into his chest and drew out a long, thin strand of nothingness, deftly coiling it into a rope. He didn't want to use it, but if measures were desperate, should she disappear again, he wanted to have it just in case.

And then they surrounded her, standing on all four sides of the woman, each flanking the directions that blocked her escape. She glanced up, her gaze level, dispassionate, merely calm and unnervingly tranquil. An unearthly beauty had sculpted her face, so much so that she looked more like a hauntingly exquisite wraith more than a human. When she spoke, her voice seemed to come from far away, as if all the winds in the world had intermingled with its timbre.

"What business do you have with me, you of the same non-essence of which I am composed?"

Naruto swallowed and stepped forwards. "Please," he began. "We request entrance into the venerable land of Kaiden."

Unexpectedly, she twisted her lips in a scant suggestion of a smile. "Since you have acquired the knowledge to seek me out, and since you have so politely asked, I see no reason to deny your request."

A swirling glaive appeared in her hand, and with it she sliced the air in front of her. The four recoiled; a blinding flash of light expelled itself from the wound and scorched their eyes before pooling into the lake in a molten stream of liquid gold. The wound slowly widened as Ren pulled it apart, revealing a glimmering staircase that shimmered and wavered beyond the gaping mouth of the entrance.

"Enter with my blessings." And now her voice was musical almost, strangely lilting as she invited them inside.

With a last parting nod and a statement of thanks, the quartet stepped into the wound as one, watching behind them as the world they knew so well disappeared into the atmosphere.

Alone again, Ren smiled, a soft, secret smile that peeled back the unnatural beauty that belied her face. It was such a peaceful feeling, the feeling that relieved her of her burden. It almost made her feel young again, and sent her spiraling into a world of lost memories and omniscient dreams.