Sunset

Disclaimer: After a long discussion with my lawyer, as well as several good psychiatrists, I have finally been convinced that I do not, in actual fact, own Naruto in any way. Yet. Watch out, Kishimoto; the second you turn your back, I'll steal it out from under your nose. And then I shall rule the world! Mwuahahahaha, bwahahaha, etc.

AN: Another one-shot of the same type as Serpent's Eye and Fading Embers. It's basically just going in depth into the thoughts and mindset of a main character from the Naruto series. Eventually, I hope to have done this sort of thing for each character. Dunno how many people actually take the time to read it, but, to be honest, I do this mainly because it helps me understand the character, and thereby write them all the better in my stories. Besides, it's fun and it helps me keep in practice.

The sun was just setting, the fires of its former radiance dulled to a mere glow in the western sky. It was beautiful. Sarutobi almost forgot what troubles the next day would bring, so caught up was he in the sight. Almost.

He would die tomorrow. That was a certainty. Whether Orochimaru would kill him, or whether he would sacrifice his own life for the sake of his village, he did not know. But he was sure that this sunset would be the last he would ever see. The sunset of his life.

He turned and sat down wearily, the sun having finally gone below the horizon. Yes, he mused to himself, he was in much the same position as the sun. As a child, he had had a will and a strength that had surpassed all of his peers, that had shone like the radiance of the sun itself. As he grew stronger and wiser, that will only increased in power and fortitude. His fiery will had been so great, the Shodai and Nidaime had chosen him, the shinobi who was called the 'Professor' in tribute to his incredible aptitude for ninjutsu, to be their successor, the next in the line of the glorious Hokages.

That must have been the noontime of his life. He was at his peak in power and skill, and there were none who could match him. It was during that time when he became known as the God of Ninjas. There was not a jutsu known to Konoha that he had not studied, memorized, and mastered. There was not a genjutsu known to Konoha that he could not detect, subvert and eliminate. There was not a tactic, not a weapon, not a taijutsu style, not even an enemy known to Konoha that he did not know everything about. Information was his life, and data was his blood, and the power to wield both effectively was in him. And always, burning brightly within his breast, the Will of Fire was with him. There were truly none greater than him, and his battle prowess was respected and feared by enemies and allies alike.

He was a Hokage, in the truest and deepest sense of the word.

Then he taken unto himself three students, an unusual thing for a Hokage to do. Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya. Fresh graduates from the shinobi academy, he took them under his wing. As much as he'd like to say that it was because of the potential all three possessed that he did so. But the truth was that he considered Jiraiya to be little more than a washout, a sluggard who had barely passed the Ninja Academy. No, the one he was interested in was Orochimaru, the prodigy of his time. Oh, and Tsunade to a lesser extent, mainly because she had the most incredible aptitude for absorbing information and reasoning.

Orochimaru. He had been a prodigy of a sort that comes only once every few generations. His incredible level of intelligence, his strength, his speed, his cunning, his aptitude; all were far above normal. But his crowning strength was his ninjutsu ability. Sarutobi had watched with utmost pride as his student mastered jutsu after jutsu, attaining complete and total control over every jutsu he learned. Sarutobi never learned what Orochimaru's elemental affinity was, but he seemed to have no trouble performing any sort of elemental jutsu, and his timing and control were impeccable. For a long time, Sarutobi had been convinced that Orochimaru, his star pupil, would be the one to take on the mantle of Hokage when Sarutobi had passed on. And it had been for this reason that he had taken them on as a team, deeming Orochimaru's talents wasted on any lesser teacher than himself.

Tsunade. Her skill and potential were far greater than Sarutobi had first assumed. As time went on, she seemed to absorb information like a sponge, and once she had memorized a thing, she never forgot it. Early on, her incredible aptitude for medical ninjutsu was apparent, and she had both the control and the mentality that field of study required. It was a hard road to travel, with many hardships and obstacles, but the reward was sweeter. To obtain control over the delicate thread we call 'life', to feel the ebb and flow of the blood, to watch as life bloomed under your skilled hands... Yes, she had never regretted her choice, despite the sorrows and failures that came with it. As for combat, she was endowed with the same inhuman strength that had graced her grandfather, the Shodaime Hokage. She was by far the most intelligent of the three, but also the weakest in combat, for her aptitude for offensive Ninjutsu was inferior to her comrades.

And Jiraiya. Sarutobi had originally dismissed him as a no-talent washout, the sort of shinobi that graduates by the skin of his teeth and then runs away after the first combat mission. He was also an open pervert, but that didn't bother Sarutobi like it would have bothered others. But, even back then, he had to admit that Jiraiya was, in a word, tenacious. He might not be the brightest leaf in the tree, and his skill might be sub-par, at best; but his determination was matchless. And Sarutobi would be the first to admit that his chakra was quite large for his age; perhaps that was why the boy had had such trouble with the lower level ninjutsu. By Kami, he had barely been able to execute a decent transformation by the time he graduated! But he soon proved Sarutobi wrong. It took a lot of hard work, but soon he was progressing by leaps and bounds, learning by sweat and blood what Orochimaru absorbed within moments. Ever he chased after his teammates, and ever he caught up, but only through making every effort, forcing himself to the limit and beyond. And now? Now he was one of the strongest ninjutsu users that Sarutobi had ever known, including Sarutobi's own teachers.

It was soon after they became Chuunin that he had realized it. As they grew stronger and stronger, meeting and defeating every obstacle in their path, pushing at the boundaries of shinobi potential, he began to understand. The sun of his life was setting. As their stars waxed brighter, filling the new world with light, he was waning. Oh, he was still more than worthy of his titles and his responsibilities, and with his increasing age came a wisdom and experience he had not possessed before. But, even as he grew wiser, he felt his body begin to weaken. Combats that had once been a mere warm-up had left him breathless, and his aim was beginning to suffer. No longer could he run for days on end without pause, and soldier pills took an even greater toll on his body.

His time was beginning to run out.

He had begun staying in the village more, having formerly been very active and anxious to personally lead his men into combat. But, even though he was not present in the battles, his students were. And, Kami, how they shone! There, with her long blonde hair whipping wildly in the air, Tsunade would rip through the ranks of the enemy, tearing them apart with a mix of brute strength and anatomically precise slashes of her kunai. Any wound she received she would instantly heal, making her seem invulnerable, and friends and foes alike watched in awe as she tore men away from the brink of death and healed them entirely, even during the heat of battle. And here, Jiraiya, his face flushed with a mix of anger, adrenaline and the love of combat, fought side by side with his toad summons, his massive chakra supply fueling jutsu after jutsu. Enormous spikes of earth would crash down into the enemy's ranks, fire washed over them, whole divisions would sink into swamps the size of a village. Between those two, there was no enemy that couldn't be brought down, no foe too powerful.

But there was a third member to their team.

Orochimaru.

Of all the shinobi that had fought in that era, it was he who earned the greatest glory, he who became a legend. Oh, yes, all three of them were legends in their own right, and they were called the Legendary Sannin, having gone toe to toe with Salamander Hanzo himself, the only man who had forced Sarutobi into a stalemate. But Orochimaru, despite being younger than the other two, easily stood above them in terms of true shinobi potential. It was obvious when you saw him in action. His taijutsu was flawless, his attacks deceptively quick and unstoppably powerful, and his movements were impossible to predict. His skills with genjutsu defied belief, his illusions were complete, comprehensive and unbelievably complex, and the fear he could inspire with a mere glance was enough to drive a grown man insane. But his ninjutsu was where his real power lied. His knowledge of jutsu was rivalled only by Sarutobi, his chakra control had been trained to perfection, his mastery of the Seven Ways of Sealing and Thirteen Great Barriers made him the greatest sealmaster in his generation. He was known as the greatest shinobi that Konoha had produced since the Shodaime Hokage and his brother, the Nidaime.

That is, until Namikaze Minato stepped onto the field.

Dominating the field with his insane off-the-wall battle plans, which somehow had better results than the strategic battleplans drawn up by some of the most skilled battle technicians alive, as well as obliterating the enemy with his incredible jutsu, most of which he had created himself, there were none who could face him. No genjutsu affected him, no ninjutsu was quick enough. He ended battles in a flash of golden light, earning himself the nickname 'The Yellow Flash'. Over the space of the Second Great Shinobi War, Minato had gone from a rather average Jounin to becoming the Hokage, outshining the exploits of the Sannin from the years gone by. The Sannin and their mentor had all reacted differently. Tsunade was uncaring in public, having long since renounced her title and position, although in private she harbored regret mingled with envy. Jiraiya, who had been Minato's Jounin sensei, was overjoyed at his student's success and had begun to boast of himself as the 'Hokage-training genius'. Sarutobi was pleased with Minato's strength and determination, although his happiness at being able to step down from his position was tainted a bit by his memories of his youth, when he had been harkened as such a genius. Those days were gone forever, and now it was time for this youth to step up and claim his time.

But Orochimaru? Why, he was absolutely livid.

He did an excellent job of not showing it for a while, pretending to be a graceful loser and allowing Minato to take up his position as Hokage, which Orochimaru had no secret of desiring for quite some time, without any undue interruptions or incidents. But, beneath his mask of kindness and his false smile, he seethed with anger and indignation, unable to believe that this boy had taken the position that Orochimaru thought was rightfully his. To this day, Orochimaru still bore that grudge, and the rage had never quite died away. That was probably why he had accelerated his inhumane experimentation, why he had abandoned the village, why he had turned against his sensei, his friends and his humanity.

And it was why Orochimaru was going to attack the village tomorrow; to take his revenge and prove to Sarutobi that it was he, Orochimaru, who had truly deserved the position that had been so unjustly stolen from him. He would take the training that Sarutobi had given him, the skills his sensei had painstakingly taught him and diligently drilled into him, and use them to destroy his own teacher.

All because of Sarutobi's failure.

Oh, how he wished that he had killed the boy all those years ago! On that fateful day, when the true darkness of Orochimaru's soul was laid bare for him to see, undeniable proof before him, he had spared the Sannin's life. In a moment of unthinking mercy, of nostalgic fondness, he had allowed the man who was at once his most promising student and his worst failure escape into the shadows of the world, to plot his revenge and nurture his power in solitude.

And now, the time had come to pay for his mistake.

He would die by the hand of Orochimaru.

Sarutobi frowned and looked out at the darkening sky, his mind resolute. Even if he must die on the morrow, he would destroy this traitor, this evil menace that threatened his fair village. He would do whatever it took, use every ounce of experience from every battle he had ever fought in his long life, dry up his reserves completely in one last, glorious battle. He would die, yes; but what an end! The fires of his soul, long since faded to mere embers, would blaze once more, burning away the filth that threatened this city. Even if he was struck down by his former pupil, he would seize Orochimaru and drag him down to hell with him, until they were both swallowed by the everlasting fires.

He would summon Death itself to the battlefield.

With the jutsu created by the greatest shinobi to ever walk the earth, Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure, he would summon the Eater of Souls, the Shinigami from beyond the Veil, to do his bidding. He would sacrifice his own life to ensure the demise of his student. No matter what it cost.

He knew the price; but he would pay it, though it would cost him his very soul.

Orochimaru would fall tomorrow. This he swore.

Gazing at the sky, he saw the evening star begin to shine, twinkling defiantly in the face of the coming darkness. He smiled softly, feeling a warm glow within him as the star beamed at him. Even though he, the sun, must give way before this darkness, it would only be for a time. This star, the Will of Fire incarnate, promised that a new day would come, and there would be a dawn. A new sun would rise and trace its fiery course through the sky, bringing the light of the Will of Fire to a darkened and dissolute world.

He had failed. Though he had driven the darkness before him, it had returned as his light waned. War still raged, and death and darkness had become even more prevalent. But he knew that one day another would succeed where he had failed. There would be a sun so bright as to outshine all those that had come before it, and before whom no one could stand. Even the red moon, its crimson light dawning eerily over this world of darkness and casting a pall of blood over all that lived, would be unable to stop the coming of this sun.

The coming of Uzumaki Naruto.

He turned away and lit his pipe with a serene smile, closing the window behind him and pottering over to a large armchair. His body creaked and complained as he sat on it, making him grimace in slight pain as he made himself comfortable. Yes, it was time for his sun to leave this world, to fall below the horizon. But there was still time for one last, final blaze of glory. He would ensure that there would be a new dawn, that this village would live to see the new sun. He would give his life to protect his precious people, his beloved village.

Taking a leisurely drag at his pipe, he let his eyes slowly close, a content smile on his lips.

The Sandaime Hokage, renowned as the God of Ninja and known as the Professor of Konoha, the man possessing an encyclopedic knowledge of every known shinobi skill, revered teacher who raised gave the legendary Sannin their chance to rise to glory, the man to whom the future Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto, would one day credit as the one person who had always been at his side, slumbered.

AN: So, yeah, there's my take on Sarutobi. A great guy, and I would give anything to have been able to see what he was like in his days of greatness. I still wish they had put the whole Kakashi Gaiden sequence into the anime, so we could have seen Minato and action and possibly had gotten a better look at the world at that time, but other than that, my one true regret in this life is that I never got to see Sarutobi fight at full strength while in his prime. I can write about it, but I don't feel like I do him justice. Ah, well, that's life for ya.

Well, hope ya like this little thing. I had a hell of a fun time writing it, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as well. Feel free to leave a review, as any review is greatly appreciated, and be sure to lemme know if you have any other characters you may or may not want me to write one of these about. So, yeah, that about wraps this one up.

'Til next time,

Gaereth