Itachi's usually stoic mask shifted slightly to show surprise at Blake's words. "Sasuke-kun told you that, did he? Blake-chan, I would like you to think hard for a moment. Think about your own fighting style, about the weapon you have had since before you left White Fang. Tell me, does that sword really feel right in your hand?" He asked. Being a weapons master, he knew about the bond between a fighter and their weapon, and the way their favorite weapon would feel right in their hand, where any other weapon would feel slightly off. He hoped she at least recalled that feeling.

"It does feel a little off..." Blake admitted after a little while. It often felt as if she was missing a second weapon, but didn't know the reason why.

Itachi nodded. "Ruby-chan, please give Blake-chan her weapon back. Blake-chan, tell me if this weapon feels right to you." He instructed calmly, signaling for Ruby to move forward.

Once again Hikari held her breath. There was nothing at all stopping Blake from taking her weapon and attacking. With her own weapon, she could probably take them all on easily. He's playing a dangerous game... She thought.

Naruto bit his lip. Silently, he cheered for Blake, the real Blake, who he knew was in there somewhere. Come on, B-chan. You can do this.

Ruby nodded as she walked up to Blake, giving her Gambol Shroud. Once it was safely in the hands of Blake, Ruby stepped back, not wanting to start fighting once more. "Well?" she asked once she was a good distance away.

"This...this actually feels better, much better!" Blake exclaimed, actually feeling more relaxed and comfortable than she was just moments ago with the sword. "I missed you Gamble-kun," she said, not realizing that she told everyone there the nickname she had given her weapon, one that no one but her had known.

Itachi managed a smile. "You had that weapon with you just hour ago. Naruto-kun made sure to save it for you, and Ruby-chan graciously kept it safe until we could give it back to you." He told her, giving his proof and hoping that it would be enough.

"I don't understand..." Blake said as she held Gambol Shroud in her hands. As she held her weapon, memories started coming back to her...memories that clashed with what Sasuke told her.

"Try to relax. If your memories return, it may cause some dizziness or disorientation." Itachi instructed.

Naruto took a careful step forward. "Blake-chan...are you gonna be okay? I'm sorry, but Sasuke lied to you. And I failed you. I couldn't protect you, just like I couldn't protect the others...please forgive me."

"Na-kun?" Blake asked as she got all of her true memories back after relaxing after Itachi-sensei told her to do so, dropping the sword that Sasuke had given her in the process. Glancing up, she saw the looks of concern in her teammates eyes and Naruto's team, but she could also feel that they had questions they wanted to ask as well.

"Blake-chan, Naruto-kun...Were you two really in White Fang?" Amaya asked. She kept most of her anger out of her voice, but some of it still seeped through.

Naruto smiled with relief. "You remembered." He said happily, before Amaya's question rang out. The words seemed to hang in the air for a moment. Naruto glanced at Blake with a look that said trust me before turning to their friends. "No, not really. Sasuke lied and told Blake-chan that she used to be White Fang. When I heard her say it, I went along with it so she'd believe me. We did actually know each other as children, but it was in the village I lived in. Blake-chan moved away from the village before Sasuke ever turned, so she didn't have to see him ruin everything." He explained, hoping beyond hope thatt hey would believe him.

Amaya thought about it for a few seconds before slowly nodding at that response. "You do realize that if you're lying to us, I will never forgive you, right?" She asked, hoping that they were telling the truth.

"It's exactly what she said Blake, Naruto. I'll believe you for now, but so help me if I find out you two were, or still are, in the White Fang," Weiss said as she pointed Myrtenaster at the two of them. She and her family, as well as their family's company, had been dealing with White Fang attacks for almost all her life.

Naruto faltered. It felt wrong to lie to his friends. They're going to find out someday...better to let them hate me now...but, I can't do that to Blake-chan... Clenching his fists, he shook his head. "You can go ahead and hate me, then. I lied. I was born into the White Fang, but I left when I was very young, after my parents died. I met Blake-chan after that, though, in that village." He confessed. That was the only way to protect Blake and still tell the truth.

Hikari stared at Naruto, almost unable to believe what she was hearing. "You were in the White Fang. But, even worse that that, you lied to us. We're supposed to be your friends, your team...how could you lie?" She asked, her quiet voice carrying a world of hurt.

Blake looked at Naruto with a small look of surprise on her face, her mouth agape in shock. 'He...he was willing to lie to protect me...and he still is. I can't, no I won't let him do this!' she thought as she got her shock and surprise under control. "You shouldn't just hate Na-kun," she started softly, getting everyone's attention at that moment. "I, too, was once a member of the White Fang..." she knew she was throwing away a lot of trust with this...but it wouldn't feel right, not when she knew her teammates would find out eventually. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly before reaching up and slowly taking off her ribbon; the two cat ears standing atop her head.

Weiss couldn't believe herself. Here she was, working with a Faunus. And while she hated most Faunuses, (Fauni? Faunusi?) she had started to get to liking both Naruto and Blake. But now that was all gone. Mentally nodding, she stomped up towards Blake and before anyone could do anything, slapped Blake hard across the face. "It was because of you that my life has been so hard! You and that group have been attacking us for so long, and for what?!" she screamed, halfway tempted to use Myrtenaster on the both of them. "You know what...you two are best for each other. A pair of liars and thieves," she said coldly before turning her back on the both of them and walking away.

"Weiss!" Ruby cried out as she was about to run after her partner and teammate before being stopped by her sister. Turning to face her, Yang only gave a shake of her head, knowing that Weiss would have to figure things out on her own, just like she, herself, would have to do. Why didn't Blake tell her of all people? She was the girl's partner and she held two secrets from her...

Amaya couldn't believe it. All this time...all this time and he was with White Fang?! He could have told her, given her a clue about the people...no, the monsters that murdered her parents, and he didn't! Even when she told him about her past...even when she gave him her trust after being treated by the fox..."Naruto..." she growled out, before rushing towards him, grabbing his shirt by the collar and hoisting him by it bringing him face to face with her. "You have a ton to answer for. You were in the White Fang and you never told me, told us! Even after I told you about the Incident, you still kept this hidden from all of us! I should kill you right where you stand..." she growled out before feeling a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't. You may be angry with him Maya-chan, but he doesn't deserve to be killed for it. We all have secrets in our past...and while I'm not defending him for his actions, I can understand why he would do such a thing," Areku said as he tried calming Amaya down. As he was saying this, he glared at Naruto and Blake, showing them with his expression that he was very disappointed in the both of them. They were two teams and both Naruto and Blake should have trusted their respective teams to tell them this information.

(*blink* damn that was a long post lol)

Naruto kept his eyes downcast as Amaya rushed him. When she finally finished, he looked up at her, unshed tears shining in his eyes. "That's exactly why I didn't tell you! After you told me about what happened...how could I possibly tell you that I was born into that group?! What was I supposed to do, just say "hey, you know that group you hate with a passion? Well, funny story..." No, I couldn't tell any of you because I knew that this would happen. That you would hate me after I worked so hard to become your friend. I'm not proud of my past, but it's part of who I am...and like I said, I was only there until I was about six years old! I was never really part of all the action, and I left because I hated the whole group. I know that doesn't excuse not telling you, but it's all I've got. It's the only reason I don't hate myself. Be mad if you want, go ahead and hate me, but I had a perfectly valid reason for not telling you. And so did Blake-chan." He replied passionately.

"I understand why you did it, Naruto-san, but that doesn't make it hurt any less. We all trusted you, and we thought you trusted us. Even if you were scared, you should have trusted your team enough to confide in them. Both of you. And honestly, this was not the best way for us to find out." Hikari said. She wasn't so much mad as she was hurt and disappointed. "At least in the end, you both came clean and told us. I'm sure, eventually, everyone will come to see it that way."

Itachi stayed silent throughout the exchange, knowing that this was not something he had any part of. It was an issue between friends and team mates, and there was really nothing he could do for them. They had to work it out themselves.

((*whistles* so was that.))

(I see)

"Doesn't mean you couldn't have said something Naruto," Amaya replied annoyed before sighing lightly. "You're positive you had nothing to do with the attacks...or knew anything about the incident?" she asked.

Blake looked at the two sisters and could see the look of hurt in her partner's eyes. "Yang...I'm sorry. I know it doesn't mean much now but...I am. For the first time I had people that I could call friends, and I didn't want to risk losing the both of you because of my past...there was also Weiss, who would make my life a living hell if she knew," she said softly.

"You could have still told us though Blake...and the three of us would have worked on Weiss, you know that, right?" Ruby replied before hearing a scream of pain. "Weiss!" both Ruby and Yang shouted in alarm.

Naruto placed a hand over his heart. "I swear, on my life and on Hinata-chan's grave." He said seriously. It was then that a scream echoed out, causing everyone to jump. "Oh no, Sasuke must have found her!" He said, panicking. He ran out the door and towards the sound.

Hikari ran after Naruto. If Naruto and Blake together couldn't take on Sasuke, then Weiss by herself would have little chance.

Itachi followed quickly, knowing that he would be needed in a fight against his brother.

Weiss was shocked to see Sasuke and knew that Naruto wasn't lying when he said that no one could take Sasuke on alone and tried to run. However this proved to be her downfall as Sasuke used a powerful fire spell from the Dust he had imbued with his body, just like every other Uchiha did as an initiation from boy to man, though his was just a normal red color rather than his older brother's black flame. Weiss felt the heat coming, but was unable to turn around and protect herself with her Ice, screaming in pain as the fire enveloped her.

Naruto rounded the corner and skidded to a halt as he saw Weiss get burned by Sasuke's fire. "NO!" He lunged forward, blade drawn, to strike at his rival.

Hikari was next, and she went straight to Weiss to see if she was okay. "Weiss, can you get up? Are you hurt?" She asked, helping the white-haired girl up off the floor.

Itachi showed up then, but didn't engage in battle yet. Sasuke didn't know he was there, so he was their trump card. He would have to jump in after everyone else was present. I will have to ambush him if I wish to do any real damage... He thought.

Sasuke brought his blade up, but not enough in time to protect himself from the full attack, a small scratch appearing on his arm.

"It hurts..." she moaned out, though knew she got lucky. If she had turned around, she would most likely be dead from the flames. At best, it was only her back that got burned...though she didn't know if it was third degree burns or second degree burns. All she knew was that it hurt, badly.

Areku was next after Naruto, quickly using his quarterstaff to attack right after Naruto had, hoping to disarm one of the two people that destroyed his clan.

"Hold on, let me try something." Hikari said, moving her hands to cover the girl's ruined back. Focusing hard, she called on her Aura, and applied it. While she couldn't completely heal Weiss, she did manage to lessen the burns and numb the pain. "I hope that's better. I have to help the others, but I'll check on it again as soon as we beat this jerk to a bloody pulp." She told the other girl, before getting up and drawing her scissor blades. Breaking them apart, she followed Ark's attack with her own flaming strike.

Naruto flipped backwards and landed on his feet, seeing that his team and friends were arriving. Waiting for Hikari's attack to finish, he activated the Dust in his blade to surround it with water magic, and rushed forward.

Weiss could feel Hikari's aura entering her body and causing the pain to lessen considerably, though she was in no type of fighting shape. "Thanks," she muttered before seeing Hikari join the battle.

"Guess I'm on protection duty, hm?" Yang asked as she stood in front of Yang, making sure that Sasuke wouldn't try picking Weiss off while still able to take pot shots at the male fire user, or at least be able to counter his Dust attacks with her Pyroshots.

(No Freezerburn pairing implied, I swear)

While Amaya may have been annoyed with Naruto at the moment, she could see that Naruto was about to use water. Seeing as she was a wind user, that gave her an idea. "'Ruto, you feel like trying that ice combo we've been working on?" she asked, giving him a small olive branch.

Naruto glanced at Amaya, honestly shocked that she was even talking to him. His face broke out into a smirk. "I'm ready when you are." He said confidently.

((lol that's okay. Wolfie doesn't pay much attention to the pairings, so it doesn't matter much to her.))

(lol Alright. Though you have to admit, their attack combo was pretty neat)

"Then let's go," she said before bringing her tonfas out and placing them in the 'shotgun' position, channeling her aura, she waited for Naruto to unleash the water attack that he was preparing.

((Yeah, it was.))

Naruto let the water swirl around his blade, powering up before making a horizontal slash in the air. Water rushed from his blade, creating a wave that headed straight for it's intended target.

Amaya saw the slash of water heading towards Sasuke and quickly let off the shotgun burst of air towards it, creating a wave of ice as the cold air solidified the water. She just hoped that the Ice wave they created would actually work, especially since she didn't want to use too much of her Aura to create the Shotgun bursts.

Ruby dodged under a slash from Sasuke's blade before countering with a bullet slash, using the speed of the ricochet to propel her quickly towards the black-haired male all of them were fighting. Sensing her sister's attack, she ducked, allowing the shot of fire to pass over her harmlessly. She'd have to talk to her half-sister about potentially roasting younger siblings after this was all over, assuming they got out of this alive that was.

Hikari ran up the wall to avoid the other attacks, kicking off at the top to land behind Sasuke. The second she landed, she lunged at him with her blades, each one blazing with white-hot fire.