Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail

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By Any Means

Interlude - A Hidden Truth

Opening - Now or Never by Nano

0o0o0 8 Months Ago 0o0o0

"Will he be alright?" Haku asked the aging toad sitting across from her.

"I do not know. The waterfall is very old, older than most lost civilizations. It's magic is very powerful." Fukasaku sipped upon his warm tea as dark clouds began to gather.

"Just… what does this waterfall do, exactly?" Haku asked as she felt a dark aura emanating from the direction Naruto had departed in.

"It shows you your soul," Fukasaku said in an irritating sage-like manner.

"You've said this before, just what does that mean?" she demanded.

Fukasaku sighed. The impatience of youth. "There's a great darkness in Naruto. I've felt its foul presence radiating all the way here. Sensing it as a Sage is like sticking your hand in acid, painful and burning." He paused for a moment to let the image stick in her mind before continuing.

"When I first felt it four years ago, I almost travelled down below to see what this new evil was but… I think deep down I knew it was him, so I stayed. I didn't want to see what had become of my student. He was supposed to be a new beacon of light to the world, and instead he'd become something so foul, so evil."

Fukasaku paused once more, reflecting once more on what his student could've been. "Do you know how Naruto gained his title as the Hitokiri?"

"Yes. There are several rumors about the subject, but they all begin four years ago with the Ferdinand Massacre. They say he left no man alive, including the women and children." Haku answered unsure how this related to how the waterfall worked.

"And he did. I've talked extensively with Mei Terumi about that incident." At the mention of the current leader of the Hagoromo Haku turned her head toward him.

"Naruto's mission there was to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the then Minister of War, and only the Archduke. The night of the assassination something happened to Naruto. Something dark awoke in him and changed him. His demeanor became cold and distant, and his blue eyes changed to a terrifying red. He began to disobey orders and killed unnecessarily, sparing none in the vicinity of his target. He wasn't performing assassinations for the betterment of Bosco, he was callously killing indiscriminately!" Fukasaku yelled in frustration.

"The boy I trained was kind and loving, who knew what was right and wrong! Sure that Uchiha brat had taught him how to kill before he came to me, but Naruto cared. He disliked killing and preferred it as a last resort." Fukasaku couldn't help the tears as he thought of what could've been.

"He cares. Even as the Hitokiri, he cared."

Fukasaku couldn't help the shock of Haku's words. To say such a monster cared about the lives of his victims-

"If he did not, he wouldn't have returned to this place. He would've never returned to the Hagoromo. I don't think that Naruto was killing indiscriminately. I believe that he knew something others did not, a hidden truth that left him with no other choice but to be death itself. To be a slayer of men." Haku's voice was filled with conviction as she spoke her belief in her new master. "As I watched him battle Zabuza-sama I did not see a mindless monster who only thought of killing. Had he been such, Zabuza-sama would've killed him with ease. No, I saw something that this world desperately needs. It is why I pleaded for his life." Haku smiled sadly as she remembered standing over the fallen form of the Hitokiri in the blazing sands of the Boscoan desert, refusing to let Zabuza claim his life.

"Wh-what did you see?" Fukasaku was amazed that the young woman next to him had been able to see anything redeeming in such a man of darkness.

"I saw-" Both Haku and Fukasaku's heads swirled toward the direction of the waterfall as a powerful killer's intent washed over them. "Master…"

"Naruto, whatever you are facing… be strong."

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Ending - Black Board - Nano

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