Review Responses:

meee: I'm just gonna do a double response here. First of all, I'm glad that you liked the "Scarring Hotaru" moment. Seems it has become a favorite haha. I too wish I had the ability to get bacon whenever I wanted it. As for Hinata...well your just going to have to read to find out!

Second I would like to say thank you. Your right, haters gonna hate haha. Also glad you liked the Yin Yang reference.

Jinchuuriki Jake: You have easily become the most random reviewer out there haha! These reviews make me laugh every time I read them! As for the "Moar bacon" don't worry, Akiko is alive so there will be more bacon. As for the "sexy timez" well you know who to look for.

McAwzome: Nope there wasn't any Riku or Itachi. They have had plenty of chapters so far so they might not play as active of a role in the coming chapters. You'll have to read to find out!

Hinata sat in the darkness, tears streaking down the sides of her face. She couldn't stop thinking of home. Of all the people there, her friends, her family...everyone. She knew that the only way she would survive was if Rykuga let her go. She nearly laughed at that idea.

'Yeah right. Like Rykuga would do anything like that.' She also felt horrified by the knowledge that so many people had lost their lives trying to rescue her.

'Naruto...please just leave me. No one else needs to die for me.'

Rykuga watched the squad of ninja land on the ground below him. He could clearly make out head protectors with the symbol of several different villages on them. He watched them look around as if they were trying to find someone. Finally, a young Cloud ninja looked up. His eyes widened and he was about to yell something when Rykuga landed on him, crushing him under the massive hammer he had created. Before they knew what happened, Rykuga shot two more in the head and transformed his leg to impale another. The rest of the squad quickly leapt backwards to put distance between them.

"So, the villages are trying a joint rescue effort huh? Wow they should have at LEAST sent Killer Bee. At least he would have been a challenge!" Rykuga began laughing when he felt a pain in his mouth. He glanced down to see part of a kunai protruded from his open mouth. What caught his attention was the explosive tag attached to the end of it. The other shinobi nearly cheered when it detonated and his body disappeared from the waist up.

"I got him! I got-" The young Sand shinobi suddenly doubled over in pain. "My-my stomach...it hurts...so much!" His comrades watched in horror when a hand ripped out of his stomach. The man's eyes went wide when he started to expand until he split open. Rykuga stepped out of the bloody mess and looked down at the man.

"You really should be more careful. You never know what an explosion could kick into the air." He walked over to his other body and touched it. Everyone watched in shock when the body was absorbed into him through his fingertips. While he was doing this, the rest of the shinobi rushed him. They were hoping he was too distracted with his task. They all descended on him as were about to start stabbing him when there was a sick tearing noise. A Rock ninja began to cough up blood and looked behind him. What he saw was absolutely terrifying. Coming out of his back, was a massive blade. The situation was the same for everyone around him.

'Damn...I'm so sorry Lord Tsuchikage but...we failed.' His world was brought to darkness when a blade entered his skull.

Shikamaru quickly glanced behind him and let out a silent curse.

"Shino, can you do anything about these Mist ninja? If they keep this up, we will be too tired to even think of rescuing Hinata." Shino quickly nodded and Shikamaru watched as a swarm of bugs discreetly came out of the bottom of his pant legs. He felt a wave of relief when the pursuing ninja let out a cry. He glanced back one more time and was satisfied to see the 10 ninja fall to the ground, completely covered in bugs.

"Ok Shikamaru they're dead. Can we finally rest?" Akiko shot a look at Shikamaru to see him nod. All five leapt to the ground and collapsed in exhaustion. They had been trying to avoid patrols all day and well into the night.

"Does anybody else find it strange that the Mist has become so hostile as of late? I mean the Mizukage was never aggressive before. You think something happened?" Nabitora glanced at them and could see they were all thinking the same thing.

"Well," Shikamaru stated, "it looks like this mission will hopefully answer our questions."

Rykuga quickly made his way to his target.

'I can't stay here anymore. Naruto just had to send Shikamaru. Well hopefully I can kill him. That should crush the "mighty" Hokage's spirit!' Rykuga smiled at the thought of running Shikamaru through. He would love to see the look on Temari's face when Shikamaru's lifeless body fell in front of her feet. He quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts.

'Soon.'

He threw open the door and was hit in the face, hard. Darkness quickly rushed into his mind as he blacked out.

Hinata had shocked herself when she tore the seal off. Through sheer will power alone, she had moved her hand and ripped the seal off. As soon as she did she felt a rush of strength as her chakra returned to her. She quickly went into action when she heard the foot steps approaching her room. She waited for the door to open and lashed out as hard as she could using her Gentle Fist. She felt a feeling of satisfaction when she felt his nose snap from the force of the blow. Hinata quickly took off down the hallway and started to make her way through the hallways. Using her Byakugan to guide her, she quickly found the entrance and threw the door open.

'I'm so close! I need to keep moving!" Hinata took off into the forest ahead of her. After several hours of running she noticed five familiar chakra signatures. She nearly leapt with joy when she seen Temari standing guard. Hinata leapt into Shikamaru's camp and collapsed, sleep overtaking her.

Rykuga smiled at his fortune. He had initially been surprised when she caused him to black out but thanks to his ability, he had recovered in a matter of seconds. The problem came when he realized that Hinata had slapped the seal onto his face when she had hit him. It had taken several minutes but he was finally able to create a small knife and pushed in into the seal. With that broken, he quickly picked up Hinata's trail and followed her to the current location.

'Well thank you Hinata!' He could barely keep himself contained. He desperately wanted to kill everyone in front of him. He was also disappointed to see that Akiko's leg had been replaced.

'Oh well. Just more for me to rip off of him!' This thought brought a grin to his face. He looked back at Hinata and smiled. 'You are no longer useful like that. Time to take over.' He made a seal and watched as Hinata began to convulse.

Nabitora watched in horror as Hinata stood up and began to laugh. He was immideately ready to fight when Rykuga stepped out of the shadows. To everyone's surprise, Hinata stood up and walked over to stand beside Rykuga.

"Hinata! What are you doing?!" Nabitora couldn't figure out what was happening. First Hinata had just appeared and passed out in their camp. They had assigned him to watch her and when he took up his post she had begun to convulse. Now she stood next to Rykuga?! What was going on?

"Oh this isn't the Hinata you knew. I injected my cells into her skin when I first captured her. My cells acted like a virus and quickly spread through out her system, slowly merging with her cells. Now that the process was finished, I just needed to activate my cells to bring her completely under my control. Your friend is no more. Your looking upon the new Hinata Hyuuga, the future Destroyer of the Hidden Leaf Village. But first, I need to take care of you." He turned to look at Hinata, "Shall we?"

Nabitora watched as Hinata leapt straight at him.

"Fuck." It was all he could saw before she was on him. This was going to be a pain.

3 Days later

Naruto listened as Shikamaru reported the situation to him.

"So your saying that after Nabitora restrained Hinata that Rykuga retreated? Why would he do that?"

"I really don't know, Naruto. He had us. We were exhausted and barely able to fight back but as soon as we captured her he just left." Naruto could tell Shikamaru was just as confused as he was. Naruto had seen what happened to Hinata, how she had tried to lash out at him and Sakura. After that, they place multiple seals on her to completely restrain her movement and chakra. Now Sakura was busy examining her and was trying her best to remove Rykuga's cells from hers. So far she wasn't having much luck but she was able to confirm Rykuga's story. His cells were indeed merged with Hinata's cells. Normally Hinata's cells would remain in control, but something in Rykuga's DNA allowed his cells to wrest control away from Hinata. Basically Hinata was trapped in her own mind, only able to watch her body act. She was a prisoner to herself. At least that was how Sakura had described it to him. He was frustrated that another one of his friends were hurt.

"Ok Shikamaru, your dismissed." Naruto rubbed his head as he felt the start of a massive headache forming. He heard the door open again and sighed.

"Ok whatever it is it can probably wait." He immediately regretted saying that when he heard Sakura say "Ok I geuss your right." Naruto turned ariund to see her walking away, seductively swaying her hips. Before she reached the door she felt a pair of strong arms encompass her.

"Sakura you should know that I will never make YOU wait." He spun her around and kissed her as he locked the door.

Itachi was proud of his nephew and niece. They had finally become what he was aiming for all along. Riku had damn near mastered all aspects of the Sharingan while Misaku had surpassed even him with her justus. They were better them him in their own fields of strength and now he could rest easy knowing they were ready to face any challenge that might arise. Now it was time for him to head back to the Mist. He needed to find out what was going on there, fast.

The Mizukage looked out over the army he had assembled.

"Soon this world will be nothing but ash and bones." He couldn't wait to crush Naruto's skull beneath his foot.

AN: Well here is another chapter of (Re)Setting the Stage. Yes the Reaper has finally stepped back into the spotlight. Now it's time for him to finally try and finish what he started. Please leave a review of your favorite part and/or any suggestions. Enjoy!