Hikari sighed. "I do have faith in Ark-kun. It's whoever's watching us that I'm worried about." She whispered, even lower than before.

Amaya nodded, knowing that Itachi-sensei was worried as well, along with the rest of her team.

Itachi was indeed worried, and he became more and more worried as time went on. At the time, warning Hikari and her team had seemed like a good idea. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that team HANA's response to that message would probably be to investigate, rather than lay low as he had instructed. The second class let out, he decided to go check things out himself, just in case.

Back in class, Hikari jumped up out of her seat the very second the end-of-class bell rang. "Two hours. It's been two hours and he's not back. Let's go, guys." She said.

Naruto stood up, too. "Yeah, let's go." He echoed. He knew that Ark would definitely have been back long before now if he hadn't run into any trouble. If anything, Ark would have come back just to stop Hikari from worrying.

Areku was panting lightly as he was was covered in small nicks and bruises, but so was this Whitney character. He knew that she had several bruises forming all over her skin, not to mention the bleeding that had happened due to his Bo Swords. He was on his last legs and just hoped that she was as well.

Once outside, Hikari stopped and looked around. She had no tracking skills, and no way to know where Ark had gone. "Naruto-san..." She said hesitantly. She didn't want to seem insensitive, but she didn't have time to be diplomatic. "I wouldn't ask if it weren't important, but...do you think you could...track Ark-kun?"

Naruto just gave her a thumbs-up. He knew what she meant, and how hard it was for her to ask. "No problem, Kari-chan. I've already got his scent. Follow me, dattebayo!" He said, already running off. It took him all of ten minutes to find Ark. "Hey, who's that?" He said, pointing to the girl Ark was fighting.

Itachi arrived on the scene at the same time as Team HANA and Blake, and was rather surprised to see Ark fighting the girl alone. He had thought for sure that the whole team would have gone to check things out. Then again, sending one member for recon is a more strategic move. They're learning...now if only they would learn that a recon mission should never interact with whatever they're tracking... He thought.

Hikari's breath caught in her throat. It looked like Ark had taken a beating, which was frightening simply because Areku was easily one of the strongest on their team. To be fair though, the girl he was fighting looked equally beat up. "Ark-kun!" She said, panting from the run. "Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine! Is it already two hours?" he asked back in surprise. He didn't think that he had been fighting Whitney for two hours. Maybe an hour and a half, at best. But sadly, all good things did have to come to an end. Seeing that Whitney was slowly getting up, Ark also got up as well. This was going to have to be his last attack...or so he thought. Little did he know that Whitney had other plans...

Whitney slowly got up from the last attack and saw several new people that weren't there previously. Seeing that she was outnumbered, and with that teacher Itachi here as well, severely outclassed. Hearing the female call out to her opponent and Areku responding, a small idea entered her head. It was evil, true, but it was something that she needed to do if she was going to get out of here alive. "I guess that's all the time we have for today lover boy...though I do thank you for the kiss. It was my first~"

Hikari pulled up short in front of Ark, stunned by what she had just heard. "What? Ark-kun, who is this? What does she mean, kiss?" She asked, obviously not wanting to believe the girl's words.

"I have no idea who she is, or what she's talking about" Ark replied instantly. And it was true, he didn't. He had only met Whitney today right before fighting her. Catching onto what she was doing, he scowled. "She's using this as a distraction to get away Hika-koi!"

Hikari sighed in relief. Of course that's what it was! "Of course. I'm sorry, Ark-kun, I should have known." She said apologetically.

"Hey guys, can we put off the lover's spat until later? There's a spy over there trying to get away!" Naruto shouted.

"He's right koi, we have to capture her!" Ark replied, knowing that Naruto was indeed right.

Blake had followed after the spy, not knowing who exactly it was, but something about her definitely felt familiar...

Hikari nodded. "Right, let's go!" She said. "Don't let her get away!"

Blake followed her boyfriend who was following after the White Fang member. She still had the funniest of feelings that she knew who this person was...

Naruto was in the lead, having rushed ahead as usual. For some reason he felt like he knew the girl he was chasing, or at least knew someone like her. He couldn't figure it out, though, and it was bothering him. "HEY! Get back here, you!!"

Hikari was close behind, not wanting to lose sight of her blonde team mate. She knew he could get into trouble if he was left to himself. Still, it was getting difficult to keep up, since Naruto was a Faunus and just naturally faster than her.

Itachi was following as well, slowing his pace to stay at Hikari's level. With all his training, he could easily outpace Naruto if he wanted to, but he wanted to keep an eye on the whole team. As their teacher, it was his job first and foremost to make sure they were safe.

(you did it again, Gemini instead of Hikari. Also should I have Whitney kiss Naruto soon to piss off Blake?)

((Oh, dammit! Sorry about that. Fixed. Ah...yeah, go ahead.))

"Well if you insist... Whitney said, stopping quickly, allowing Naruto to run into her. Before the fox faunus could do anything, the white cat 'pounced' and french kissed the fox in question. If one relationship wasn't put into chaos beforehand, then this would definitely work...especially since it was the only way she could think of to escape with her life.

Blake saw Naruto crash into the Cat Faunus but what she wasn't ready for was the enemy to kiss him...especially like that. Seeing him in a daze she scowled, and while she knew she shouldn't be getting jealous, she was. Especially since it seemed like he enjoyed the kiss from a stranger...

Naruto realized too late that the girl had stopped, and crashed right into her. His first thought was that at least this would keep her from escaping. Then it happened. He wasn't expecting it, and so he didn't react. The girl kissed him: make-out style. It only lasted a moment, but he was completely dazed. Somehow, the kiss felt...wrong. Like it was an imitation of something that was supposed to happen. Like kissing an evil twin, he thought. He blinked rapidly at the girl. "Wh...wha?"

Hikari had caught up just in time to see the kiss happen. She skidded to a stop, eyes widening, and gasped. It took her half a second to realize three things: first, Blake was there. Second, she had seen it, too. And third, Naruto had no idea what had just happened. "Hey! What the heck is wrong with you, lady?! Are you a hooker or something?!" She yelled angrily.

"Perhaps I am...then again, who wouldn't want a sexy kitty like me, hm? Whitney asked with a smirk before hearing an airship coming behind her. "Or perhaps I'm a sister who wants revenge for her older sibling abandoning her after her first job with the lieutenant of White Fang. Why don't you ask Black Cat over there...Light-chan? Whitney asked before jumping into the airship powered by White Fang members and supporters.

Hikari's reaction was instant. She shouted angrily and leapt at the girl, managing to land a cut on her shoulder with one of her scissor blades. "Next time I'll get your throat, you bitch!" She screamed at the retreating form.

Whitney knew that she would get a reaction such as that from using that name and grinned lightly as to what happened. She had escaped with her life, gained information on her sister, and Team HANA, along some other valuable information.

~~~

Blake just stood there in shock, still stunned about her boyfriend being kissed by someone else. Someone that was a member of the White Fang. And only one person called her that back in her youth, but she had died...Adam and several other members had told her so. 'Could it be...Whitney? But...my sister died, right?'

Naruto finally snapped back to reality with a blink. His expression changed from blank to furious in the blink of an eye. "She kissed me." He said, his voice starting to turn deep and growl-like. "That bitch kissed me!" He roared, sounding bestial. A sharp wind started to swirl around him, and his features changed subtly. The whisker marks on his cheeks became darker, his canine teeth longer. His fingernails sharpened into claws and his eyes turned blood red, all while a red aura surrounded him, forming a vaguely fox-like shape.

Hikari, who was standing closest to Naruto at the time, was actually thrown backwards by the fierce wind that had kicked up. She yelled out in pain as she hit the ground, and didn't move after that.

Itachi's eyes widened at the sight. He had heard of this kind of power before, but he had never sen it. It was incredibly rare, said to exist only a handful of times every hundred years or so. Thankfully, Itachi had researched the anomaly extensively. It was a faunus legend that told of nine "super faunus" that would be born at a time when the world needed them most. Each one would carry incredible power that was linked to their animal side, and the level of power would depend on how many tails would manifest when their beast Aura was tapped. He couldn't quite tell which one Naruto was yet, but he would find out- after he stopped the inevitable rampage. Taking an old-fashioned sutra from a pack on his leg, the elder Uchiha rushed forward and threw it, making it stick to Naruto. Instantly, the beast cloak that had covered the boy dissipated, and he fell down, exhausted. The sutra crumbled to ash as soon as it's job was done.

((Wolfie just remembered that we discussed integrating the jinchuurichi into the story this way a long while back.))

(nice to remember especially since I forgot myself. And holy crap, as I'm reading this and about to respond, 5 guests are reading lol)

Areku felt the wind and shear power coming off of Naruto before seeing Hikari hit the ground and not move. "Hikari-koi!" he shouted as he quickly went over to her, making sure that she was okay. Besides seeing the small bump starting to form, he breathed a sigh of relief when he felt her pulse and seeing that it was at a normal-esque pace. 'What was that?' he silently asked, wondering what had happened to Naruto.

"N-naruto-koi?" Blake asked once she got out of her shock. She had seen Itachi-sensei throw something at him, but other than that she wasn't sure what that surge of power was. 'I'm going to have to ask him what that was...Itachi-sensei seems to know what is going on...' she thought to herself as she made her way to her boyfriend carefully, just in case something like what happened to Hikari happened again.

((lol wow, we're popular!))

Hikari moaned. She had lost consciousness for a moment, and was just coming to. "Ow...I feel like a Grimm hit me. What happened?" She asked.

Naruto sat up, his features back to normal, rubbing his head. "Ugh, my head. What just happened to me?" He asked, sounding a bit scared.

"You lost control of your beast Aura." Itachi said, approaching. "It's a long story, and I will explain it later, but right now we should get back and report this to the headmaster." He told them. He was curious why a kiss had made Naruto angry enough to lose control.

(apparently, lol. Surprised you're doing two posts actually)

Areku explained what happened to the best of his ability, still totally unsure as to what happened himself. "Though...I think Itachi-sensei knows something about what happened. We'll have to ask him," he said as he helped her sit up. "Think you can walk?" He asked, concerned.

"So...did you have fun meeting up with your sister?" Adam asked from the pilot seat of the airship. True he was a little annoyed about having to rescue her, but she had gained several amounts of information and anything she learned could have been valuable.

((Wolfie was awake longer than usual, and figured she might as well.))

Hikari nodded. "Yeah. I'm bruised and scraped, but I can walk." She said, getting shakily to her feet. Once she was sure that she wasn't going to fall over, she headed over to where Naruto was just getting up. He still looked upset.