A/N: Hey, It's been far too long, I know, and that can be attributed to the huge amount of horrid work i've been given to do from school and my job, yikes! In all honesty though, I really have been swarmed in work, so I've had little time to work on the story :( However with all that crap aside, here's a new chapter for you anyhow!

All I see is the darkness consuming me again; something that I'm becoming accustomed too. Kiba's face is so close to mine; that same indescribable feeling taking hold as always, but the tears in his eyes replace that wonderful feeling with sorrow. His eyes are getting dimmer and dimmer, as well as everyone else's who are around me. That pendant might end up killing me at this rate, but I'm so glad the last person I could see is my Kiba... I-...

"Sakura, Kiba: Lay him on the table immediately!"

Tsunade's shout jump started the panicked teens, who picked the now unconscious Naruto up and carefully laid him on the meeting table as per Tsunade's orders. She rushed to the left side of the table where Naruto was laid, firstly placing her hand on his head to detect any abnormalities in his Chakra system. Everyone else in the room was staring intently at the Hokage's face, trying to work out if something truly bad was happening to Naruto by her facial expressions. She held a constant poker-face however, which raised the anxiety of it all even more.

Her hand was firmly planted to Naruto's forehead for a couple of minutes, her face retaining the exact same expression as when she first started. Meanwhile Naruto was breathing quite heavily, almost as if he were hyperventilating. Kiba looked the most shocked out of them all, understandably, as his new boyfriend looked comatose.

"L-Lady Tsunade..."

The Hokage heard Kibas whimper and turned to see him looking an absolute wreck: his eyes were overly teary and his bottom lip quivered from all the crying - he looked almost adorable, but it was heart-wrenching to see all the same. Tsunade sighed and looked back down to Naruto's face, almost hoping to see one of his vibrant blue eyes shoot open and snarl at his baa-chan being too close.

However life wasn't merciful like that, which Tsunade knew all too well. She detected that his chakra network was unusually suppressed, more so then it should be for someone who's unconscious. She then placed her hand on his stomach to detect any differences in Kyuubi's seal as well; Tsunade's face now truly changed expression after detecting Kyuubi's chakra, which was far too weak for it to be anything minor.

"Shino, I need you to use your insects to check Naruto's chakra pathways, tell me anything which is out of the ordinary." Tsunade firmly instructed the Aburame as he moved next to her and besides Naruto.

Shino pulled the sleeve back on his right arm and hundreds of insects crawled out from his upper arm, taking flight and landing on most of Naruto's body. They scanned Naruto's body with great focus, analysing every chakra gate and pathway to detect any problems that Tsunade needed their master to find. When several of them focused on the blondes View Gate, which was essentially the Kyuubi seal on his stomach, they found something completely out of the ordinary. The bugs returned to Shino and relayed all the information of Naruto's chakra back to him, which even made his stern face change expression.

"Lady Tsunade, the Nine Tails' chakra is... almost non existent in Naruto's own chakra."

The others in the room almost gasped with shock, Shizune too was now confounded as much as the teens, while Tsunade's expression still remained eerily the same.

"Yes, I thought as much, but I needed your chakra-detecting capabilities to tell if it was more than a simple hypothesis. Thank you, Shino." She looked back down to Naruto and scanned him as much as Shino did, although trying to see if there was any physical injuries that could have made him pass out instead.

"But Lady Hokage, there's something even stranger I've found."

Tsunade's attention was now fully aimed at Shino; as well as everybody elses'.

"And what's that? Will it help at all?!" Kiba blurted out, not able to keep his anxiety at bay.

"I don't know, Kiba." Shino spoke harshly, "But what I do know is that letting me finish my point would help greatly."

Kiba was taken back that Shino, one of his best friends and squad mate, would speak so harshly to him. He wondered if it was because he found out about his and Naruto's relationship and didn't approve, or if he blamed the brunette for Hinata's disappearance. Either way, Kiba held his tongue and gave Shino the benefit of the doubt, for now.

"My insects discovered that Naruto and the Nine Tails' chakra is being actively held back, which can't be due to him being unconscious. We can only assume that what's holding him back is the pendants influence, as it seemingly did have more secrets then we anticipated. Moreover, it could be in fact a tool of someones to take control of another person, which I dare say would be... The Manipulator's."

"So this is like a catalyst of The Manipulator's influence?" Kiba spoke; yet calmer and more controlled than before.

Shino raised an eyebrow under his hood and head-band, but continued: "Yes, so it is fair to assume that Naruto is in an almost comatose state due to The Manipulator's desire for him to be in one."

"B-But that makes no sense!" Sakura interrupted, "I thought that he used a special poison to take control of people! Not this... this is like magic!"

"Magic? Don't be foolish, it's a type of Genjutsu most likely."

Kiba furrowed his eyebrows, "Well can't we just release it then?"

"No. I guess Sakura was partially right in that aspect, it's not any kind of Genjutsu... it's actually quite supernatural."

"Supernatural? Well how can we save Naruto then?!"

*Cough*

The two debating teens turned to see Tsunade standing impatiently, looking ready to pommel the both of them as she was waiting to make a point.

"The more effective way to treat most Genjutsu victims is, as you said Kiba, to release them from the Illusion with a controlled burst of chakra. However, If the chakra from the user is higher then it is in the victim, then It becomes far harder to release." Tsunade explained.

"So basically Naruto was overpowered by The Manipulator's chakra?" Sakura affirmed.

"In a way, yes. Naruto's never been good at using or resisting Genjutsu anyway, the baka."

"But surely we could release Naru from the illusion as usual, as it doesn't require his chakra to release The Manipulator's genjutsu, but rather one of ours, right Lady Hokage?." Sai added.

"I'm afraid not Sai, as Shino discovered earlier, it's not just a Genjutsu: it's different, it's... peculiar."

"So what can we do then? I can't lose him to-" Kiba anxiety showed. His eyes slowly began to tear up again, not able to control his sorrow.

"Settle down Kiba, although it may be different, it doesn't mean it's impossible to solve!" Tenten put her arm on Kiba's shoulder, offering unexpected support.

"But you don't know that!" Kiba shot a suspicious look back at Tenten, his anxiety causing the existing paranoia of her to increase.

"Well I do, so If you'd all let me explain then Hinata and Naruto will be less at risk!" Tsunade bellowed.

Kiba stopped giving his suspicious looks and tried to reign in his anxiety again, mentally criticising himself up for appearing so weak, or so he thought. Tsunade now had the attention of everyone, so she continued:

"Through analysing his chakra system, I believe that he's going to have to fight his way out of this suppression by himself. Why, you all might ask? It's because he's been trapped within his own inner psyche, so only he can unlock it to return to consciousness."

"But can't someone from the Yamanaka clan just force it open for him?!" Kiba plead.

"No, and that's precisely why."Forcing" It open could severely damage his chakra network or even mental capabilities, as it's in a very sensitive state where only he can safely open it from the inside, which would present the least risk. I know that you're looking out for him a much as you can Kiba, but don't ever doubt that we aren't doing the same, trust us."

Kiba saw honesty in the Hokage's eyes, and nodded. His anxiety was almost swept away after hearing those words, knowing that Naruto really was safe in all of their hands... and in some ways even Tenten's, as she was trying her best in all of this too.

"I'd say it's best we take him back to your home, Kiba, as a hospital bed isn't going to help him anymore then a comfortable one at home will. His recovery will be all down to willpower, something this little dobe is sure to have." Tsunade smiled reassuringly at Kiba, which infected the others in the room with some well-needed happiness too.

"O-Ok, thank you Lady Tsunade."

"I should be thanking you Kiba, It's good to finally see him happy with someone."

"H-He's happy with me?"

"He's happier with you then I've seen with anyone else, right Lady Tsunade?" Sakura reassuringly said.

Tsunade nodded while keeping to her radiant smile, as well as Sakura who put her hand on his shoulder. Kiba smirked to himself and looked over to his sleeping blonde beauty, who although may have had some snot coming out of his nose, looked beautiful to him nonetheless.

"Thank you guys... it means a lot!" his goofy smile finally showed itself again, pleasantly surprising everyone else.

"Now that we've established your undying love for my Naru-chan, shall we return him to your home doggy?"

"He's MY Naru, and yes, we shall."

Naruto's Perspective:

"There's... nothing. I can't see a damn thing... Kyuubi? Where the hell are you?!"

Naruto woke to see a huge area of darkness around him, both above and below that stretched for what seemed like miles upon miles. He heard absolutely nothing: not a voice, whisper or even a grunt from Kyuubi.

"Where the hell are you Kyu?! And where the hell am I..."

The blonde nin looked around again to see only the impenetrable darkness; an abyss that was eerily familiar.

"This place feels... familiar, but I've never been stuck in a freakin' world of darkness before!" He kicked the dark floor frustratedly, it feeling as hard as concrete yet appearing to be a bottomless pit.

"W-Wait, what's that?"

When Naruto looked up from the dark ground, he saw what looked like a faint torch in the dark horizon, yet glowed a clear neon green. He squinted his eyes to try and see anything else, but the strange light was all that he saw.

"Well... I guess that's my best chance of finding out what the hell's going on, I better get moving!"

The blonde ran at a steady pace towards the strange light, trying to figure out what it was as he slowly got closer. After 10 minutes of running, It took what seemed like hundreds of steps to even get a fraction closer to the light; almost as if it was much further away then it looked. He stopped to take a breather, bewildered at how little distance he covered in trying to get to the light.

"This *huff* damned light isn't getting much closer!"

His breathing was heavier than it normally would be after such a relatively short run, which also brought confusion to the nin. His entire body and movements also felt heavier, which didn't help with current circumstances.

"W-Why do I feel, so fatigued... this place must be draining me!"

He looked around in a vain attempt to figure out what was going on, however the dark abyss gave no clues other then that previously discovered light in the distance.

"It's so close... yet so far away... how can I get to it at this rate?!" He huffed even more then before, losing his breath and stamina even while he was idle, which worried him the most.

"I-I've *huff* gotta get moving... fast."

The blonde dragged his feet slightly while getting into a steady pace for his run, or attempted one, as his stamina was quickly depleting with each step he took. He began to breathe fast in a desperate attempt to keep going, but the draining aura of the abyss sapped him of most of his energy, and he fell to the strange floor. He was then on his hands and knee's breathing heavy and unevenly.

"Kami... I can't... even move any...more."

His arms began to tremble slightly as even they were almost fully drained of energy. He was looking directly at the transparent yet solid black ground of the abyss, and almost thought he saw something down in the deep depths... something vibrantly red in the otherwise-oppressive darkness.

"Heh... reminds me... of Kyu... W-Wait."

The slow blonde squinted his eyes like he did earlier, trying to depict any other features of the red-looking blob far beneath him. He saw that it was, or at least parts of it, were moving.

"It's not going anywhere... It just... looks like it's stretching something... kinda."

He eventually gave up squinting as even that was soon too difficult to manage by the energy-sapping of the abyss. He was thinking desperately to how he was gonna get out of there, as it seemed impossible to reach the green light with his lack of stamina. He began to feel woozy and as if he was going to pass out from the sheer lack of energy, which he knew would continue to get worse even after passing out.

"I-Is this it then? I'm gonna die... in a place like this?!"

"U-Uzumaki-Kun!"

A voice echoed in the entirety of the abyss, and Naruto's eyes shot open as a result. The voice sounded incredibly feminine, that he was sure of, but it was a voice he wasn't sure he had heard before.

"W-Who's... there?" He was now completely prone on the floor from the lack of energy, not able to even lift his head to look around. He truly thought that he was going to pass out and continue to deteriorate within seconds, but that mysterious voice jumpstarted part of him back to reality.

"Soten-..."

'I-I can't hear her anymore... what great timing you chose to leave... damned hearing!'

Before Naruto's vision had deteriorated, he barely managed to make out another light that appeared in the abyss, albeit much closer to him then the green light he saw before. This light seemed to cover him in a radiant glow of energy, which looked almost gold to him, which was a relief compared to the horrid darkness of the abyss. His eyes opened more and he felt energy coming back to him with haste; an amazing feeling it was for him after being so close to passing out from fatigue.

His hearing also began to return with a faint humming sound being the first thing that he noticed. He tried to look up at his saviour but he still didn't have the energy to even do that, barely able to hear and see let alone move. He managed to talk:

"W-Who are you?"

At first no sound other then the faint humming was heard, but after a minute of silence the mysterious female spoke up.

"I-I can't tell you... I'm sorry Uzumaki-Kun."

"How do you know my name?" His voice raised as his paranoia set in.

"I-..." Silence was once again present as the seemingly mysterious female thought of how to answer Naruto's question.

"I can't tell you how I know that either, I'm sorry." Her voice was laced with unfamiliar kindness, and sounded sincere in her apology. Naruto couldn't get angry with her, as it seemed she really did want to tell him.

"Fine... but surely you can tell me where the hell this place is then?!"

"Y-Yes I guess I can! Hehe." Her laugh was also just as innocent, which sounded even stranger in these circumstances, a dark abyss with seemingly little hope. However the laugh it self made Naruto feel somewhat comforted, now knowing that he won't have to face it alone anymore.

"This place is your psyche, in simple terms!"

"M-My psyche? So this is a dream after all?"

"Not quite. You're trapped in your own mind, probably by a Genjutsu or spell of sorts."

"A spell? What like magic and witchcraft?" He scoffed, oozing sarcasm due to not believing in anything remotely supernatural.

"Well It's almost like magic... but I don't know which kind it is..." Naruto's sarcasm flew right over her head, owing again to her innocence.

"But the bottom line is, no matter if it's genjutsu or magic, you have to stop the caster!" Her voice held more strength now, yet lost none of it's inherent kindness. By now Naruto's strength had largely returned, and he now sat up and tried looking for the mystery girl, but saw only the gold energy around him.

"Yeah yeah so that's all good, but where the hell are you?!" Naruto's confidence also managed to return as he was more than willing to beat the crap outta whoever put him in this hell-hole, but was more confused to where his healer was.

"I can't show myself Uzumaki-kun, I-I really am sorry..." Her voice was oozing sympathy for Naruto, as he was kept in the dark both literally and metaphorically concerning her identity.

"Yeah It's fine, well I think it's time I kicked this casters ass! Thanks for healing me anyhow." Naruto jumped back up onto his feet with his famous optimism on show, and began to travel to the green light he was meaning to reach earlier.

"W-Wait Uzumaki-Kun!"

"Huh?"

"I was supposed to give you something, but I completely forgot to actually give it! Hehe... stand still for a moment please!"

"O...K?" - 'She really is weird... or ditsy... actually I'd say she's both at this point.'

Naruto stood waiting for the mystery woman to give whatever she was "supposed" to give, whatever that meant. The gold energy around him finally ceased, but now another noise other than the humming was present. He heard a ghostly sound of sorts and was expecting the worst at that point: a huge monster to appear, a trap-door somehow appearing under him or even a group of ghosts trying to kill him. But he couldn't have been any more wrong.

"Hold out your hands Uzumaki-Kun! Don't worry, It'll be fine, trust me!"

"This is getting really weird now, lady."

He held his hands out apprehensively and waited for whatever the girl was meant to give him. His paranoia of ghosts and monsters vanished however, as a leather-bound tome dropped into his hands from the blackened sky above.

The book was very heavy, needing both hands to carry it, and almost toppling him when It landed in his hands. It had a purple border on the front cover while the interior of the border and spine of the book was an earthy brown color, yet the most enticing part for Naruto was obviously the name of the tome, which was:

The Spirit Way: Volume I

1-10

"The Spirit Way?... What the hell's this supposed to be Lady?!"

"It's something one of my friends wanted you to have, she said that this would help you in your fight against The Manipulator!"

"W-Wait, what? How do you know about The Manipulator?! And who's this friend?!"

"I'm sorry Uzumaki-Kun, I've spent too long here! I promise one day I'll meet you in person and explain everything, goodbye Naruto-kun, and goodluck!"

"W-Wait!"

Naruto tried calling for her multiple times, but it seemed she really did leave him. His mind was full of questions, more annoyingly so due to none of them being answered. He held the strange tome in his hands and opened the first few pages, seeing a whole bunch of symbols that he couldn't even begin to understand. He checked and saw that most of the book was written in this strange language, which angered him even more.

"This is supposed to help me?! I can't even read the damned thing!"

The blonde kept grumbling to himself while breaking into a run towards the green light, now feeling completely revitalised after the healing he had. He occasionally looked beneath him to the transparent floor to see the red creature far below, which helped reassure him that it could have been Kyuubi; that he wasn't alone.

He surprisingly almost reached the green light, which was becoming clearer with each step, somehow different to before where it took hundreds to see even a minute difference. He reached the light and saw it was a regular torch with an albeit unusual green flame, but he was so used to strange happenings now that it didn't phase him much.

However he saw a note beneath the torch. He picked it off the bottom of the torch and read:

Touch thy flames,

and thou shalt

be released

from thy reigns.

"Huh? What a strange poem... albeit a pretty simple one!"

He first hesitated to touch the fire, obviously worried that it'd burn him. But since it was green he already assumed it was different from regular fire, so he took the risk and grasped the ethereal flame, and was consumed in a green aura. His vision blurred and his head felt like it span, making him nauseous. After what felt like an age he looked around to see his surroundings were completely different. No longer was he stuck in the dark, draining abyss: but was now in front of two chamber doors, both brass and heavily decorated, yet sickeningly familiar.

A/N: Many questions have been raised I dare say, and I hope so too! As it wouldn't be much of a mystery without them. Well here's MY question to you: Who do you think this "Mysterious Female" is? She doesn't have to be a character that's already been introduced, so broaden your options if you was restricting yourself before! I'd be intrigued to see your answers, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.