Not sure if a one shot or not. Just playing around with what if's again.

Don't own Naruto, characters, blah blah, Kishmoto owns it all, blah blah.

The rain cascaded down out of the night sky in sheets, limned in flashes of silver fire by the occasional strike of lightning. Wind blew it into strangely shimmering curtains at it lashed at the trees, the boom of thunder in the background shaking the very earth.

It was elemental chaos.. wind, lightning, water. Orochimaru loved it, the motion and the dance of the unpredictable. The water slid down his even, smooth features, as he blinked raindrops out of his eyes and closed them to just lead his head back and let the rain fall around him.

The universe was such an interesting place. People discounted the endless wonders around them. How did fire work? How complex the muscles and nerves of the body, the dance of atoms and molecules. The intricacies of chakra, of politics, of random human nature.

Orochimaru liked to watch things .. move.

There was, after all , no real 'value' in life. There was no cause, no reason, no hidden 'meaning', no far how deep one looked underneath the underneath. There was only life, and then it's cessation. That didn't mean there were not things of interest to see, to view.

Orochimaru had seen much in his life.

He'd seen the Devil's Arch, in Iwa, that soaring rock so vast and high and delicate that clouds drifted across it's face. He'd seen the God Waterfall in Kiri, sixteen waterfalls cascading down a broken mountain in a pattern of complete chaos. He'd seen lava flows in Suna, fields of black glass as far as the eye could see. The Bonelands of Kuso, where no living thing would grow and animals grew sick and died if they lingered.

He'd created three hundred nineteen new jutsus, sixty four poisons, nine strategies, fifty-five new medical procedures. He could work higher-order calculus in his head, match wits with Shikaku Nara and his 200+ IQ in shogi or in war, outfight , outthink, and overpower almost any ninja on the continent or beyond.

He was the Yami Hebi no Sannin, the deadliest viper of Kohona. He'd lost his parents. He'd lost his family. He'd sacrificed his naivete and youth , his blood, his humanity, for his village. For Sarotubi-sensei, the only father figure he'd known. For that idiot Jiraya, the only friend he ever had. For Tsunade-hime, the only woman he'd ever bothered to notice.

There were days he wondered if any of it truly, really mattered. Why sacrifice for a village, when there was so much to learn and know and do? Why bleed and die for an ideal that would fade , when you could carve your very name into the fabric of reality itself?

The sky shattered with lightning, casting stark, brief shadows across the sodden grass, the wind sending the trees into rustling. The wind invigorated him, his limbs trembling with excitement. The smell of wet dirt, ozone, and water filled him.

He was above being hurt, of being jealous, at the fact that he'd been passed over for the position of Hokage. He was beyond it. He had other things to consider.

Orochimaru was never very good at lying to himself.

He could break ties with the village. Tsunade-hime had already done so, lost in her grief. She'd lost her brother, and her lover, and blamed the village for their loss. She'd withdrawn, taking her lover's niece as her only companion, but not before telling him goodbye.

Her words .. stung. "I wanted to believe in my ancestor's dreams. But dreams are just that. Fantasies we tell ourselves to deny truth. Death is something we are told we must accept to move on. But death has to mean something...or we are just sacrifices for others to keep dreaming on."

Was he, then, a sacrifice? Sarutobi foolishly believed in peace, in diplomacy and in negotiation, in a world where the power was held by ninja trained to kill and battle. He believed in cooperation in a world where conflict drove the economy, in a land where neighboring nations couldn't even work out how to share water from a river.

Danzo may have been a fool, but he was right that Sarutobi was weak. And this … child … they'd put into the Hokage's seat would be even weaker.

Orochimaru was very good at being aware of his surroundings. And that's why he sensed a certain chakra and turned, to the nearby treeline.

Under a massive oak was the distinctive figure of Minato Namikaze, the Hokage Elect. Long, messy blond hair tumbled down to his shoulders, and the keenly intelligent blue eyes that made him the favorite of the village's females sought his out. "Good evening, Orochimaru-shihan."

Orochimaru narrowed his golden eyes, standing in the rain. "Minato-kun. Ah, my apologies. Minato-dono. Congratulations on your .. elevation. How may I be of assistance?"

Minato frowned, glancing up at the sky and the rain. "May I ask why you are standing in the rain in the middle of the night?"

Orochimaru laughed. It was a chillingly cold sound, the kind of laugh that was a rasp of outrage, pain, and hate. "I am merely thinking about the nature of … nature. We spend so little time understanding that which is above us and around us, after all. People take for granted what is often omnipresent."

Minato nodded tersely. "I am … here to ask your advice. I would ask Jiraya-sensei, but he's out of the village again, something to do with his spies."

Orochimaru was rarely surprised. He didn't like the feeling. He mentally modeled human behavior as both habit and hobby, and when people reacted out of that mold he became worried.

"I am unsure what kind of advice you can expect from me. Certainly Sarutobi-sensei would be a better .. purveyor of knowledge to seek out, no? After all, I am too focused in my research and my studies to be of much use to the village leadership." The vitriol in his voice cut through the night, sharp and bitter.

Minato sighed. "Orochimaru-sama, it wasn't my intention to take the position away from you. I'd always wanted to be Hokage...hell, so did Kushina...but we both figured it would be as the Godaime, after you had held the position. I don't know why people seem to think I angled for it, but I swear I did not do so." His voice was firm, untroubled by deceit.

Orochimaru shrugged, as the rain finally began to slacken. "You think perhaps I am upset with you, Minato-kun?" The golden eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

Minato, in turn, glanced around. "You are not standing in the rain by yourself seething with anger enough that I can feel your chakra from my home because you are happy. That's … why I want to ask you a critical question."

Minato paused. "I worry that I am not fit to be Hokage. I have no clan, no .. backing. No one to provide me with any political clout. I want to marry Kushina...but we both know what she carries, and sooner or later it will have to be announced to at least the Council. They won't react well."

Orochimaru inclined his head. "Fools do not react well to jinchuriki vessels. They cannot grasp that there is anything but ink against skin to hold back the nightmare."

Minato sighed. "I don't have any real political training, except bits from Jiraya. I'm strong – maybe one of the strongest – but I can only barely beat Jiraya...and I know I can't beat you in a straight fight. I don't have the experience. Or the … breadth of knowledge." He looked away. "I think I was picked because I'll be easy to manipulate."

Orochimaru gave a soft chuckle. "Do you want the truth, Minato-kun? You will not like the answers I give. And maybe you shouldn't even trust what I say."

Minato stared into the eyes of the sannin, unafraid. "Jiraya-sensai said he'd trust you with his very life. That's good enough for me."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, surprised for a moment. "Jiraya-baka..." The snake summoner stood quietly for a moment before speaking. "You are familiar with the … philosophy of the Third? And of Danzo-sama?"

Minato frowned but nodded. "Sarutobi believes in the Will of Fire. That love brings peace, that peace brings understanding, that understanding brings people together, and that our future is why we are strong. Danzo, from what I know, is an old school shinobi still caught up in the mindset of the Second War."

Orochimaru nodded. "Sarutobi does not trust Danzo. Danzo sees Hiruzen as … weak. I suspect, if he thought he could get away with it, Hiruzen would have nominated Jiraya for the post, but he won't take it. He wants someone who will act as a foil for Danzo, who will resist his .. nindo."

Orochimaru closed his eyes. "Even if that is the best path. Even if it would prevent future wars. And since you are Jiraya's student...you are likely to do just that – ignore and sideline Danzo."

Minato frowned more deeply. "And you?"

Orochimaru shrugged. "We are ninja. We are the very terror that races through the world. Hate gives birth to hate. Fear to fear." He laughed, at what Minato wasn't sure, and that eerie look haunted his eyes. "We are harbingers of that hate, that fear. We fight and die that others get to live stupid, empty, pointless lives. We burn in the fires of war so that others do not need to. We bleed and suffer...there is nothing of 'peace' in that."

Minato waited for the older man to continue, then shrugged when he didn't. "And thus, you don't agree with the Third's view on life. That's why he picked me over you? So he could spite Danzo, and make sure the village followed his way?" He scowled in disbelief. "That seems so... "

Orochimaru nodded very slowly. "Indeed, young Namikaze. One cannot know what a rose smells like until one risks it's thorns to pick it up and smell it. One can't know why peace is a sacrifice without making said sacrifice. Sometimes, pain and death cannot be outrun."

Orochimaru folded his arms. "I have experimented on things that , if the civilian council or the average ninja knew of them, they would demand my expulsion. I've been given unsavory orders, taken out enemies of the state, and violated protocols in the sake of protecting Kohona. I am not angry with you, little Minato.. but you are correct. You are not ready. You will be a sacrifice. Either to politics, or to war, or maybe to necessity. The Hokage must be strong, and you have weaknesses." The snake sannin spread his fine-boned hands in a sheepish motion, grinning.

"But, alas. I am merely another ninja in the service of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Minato shook his own head. "I don't think so, Orochimaru-sama. Do you want the position? I'll turn it down."

For a long moment, Orochimaru considered it. The access, the power .. then he merely smiled and shook his head. "No, I think not. You perhaps have grasped that which many young fools never do – that you are not, indeed, supreme. You know that Sarutobi-sensei is using you." The grin on Orochimaru's face widened. "Whatever lies he filled your head with, words of pride and all of that, was to use you like a tool."

He watched the verbal kunai sink to the hilt in Minato's thought process, and glee filled him. "And just to think .. they won't want their precious Hokage to be .. tainted by associating with a jinchuriki. Maybe they'll want her sealed away in some ANBU cellar..."

Minato flinched and glared. "Enough! I came here for advice. Why won't you take the job? You wanted it. I'm not fit for it."

Orochimaru gave a shrug. "I wanted the man I looked at like a father to bother to acknowledge me. He didn't bother to acknowledge Jiraya, despite how hard that fool pushes himself to never give up. He never bothered to acknowledge Tsunade-hime, instead letting her destroy herself in guilt and loss. And he decided than rather than acknowledge me, he'd toss me aside and instead create a silly tool for his own use. Why, Minato-kun, would I want to take the job knowing that the person I wanted it from doesn't see me as fit for it?"

Orochimaru gave a ghastly , dark smile. "There are other things I can do. Kohona , sadly, is like a windmill. It may be interesting from time to time to watch a windmill that doesn't turn, but mostly it's both boring and pointless. So I will use my old sensei's words as guidance for my own life."

The snake sannin turned away. "When you take the role, Minato-kun, recall our discussion. Ask yourself what it means to be the Fire Shadow. To be a tool, or to be a sacrifice?"

Minato was left alone in the clearing a moment later, as the wind blew scattering leaves across the wet and muddy ground and damp grass.

Orochimaru's preparations the next morning were interrupted by his single apprentice, Anko. She walked cautiously into his chambers, seeing sealing scrolls tossed about and a heavy backpack by the door. "Oro-sama?"

He turned to face the girl. She was his crowning achievement, the pinnacle of his teachings, his experiments, his viewpoints. Strong, savage, and yet capable of cool insight. He knew Anko worshipped him, adored him, and probably , in her girlish fantasies, thought she loved him.

But she was not going to be able to endure what he was about to go through with. She was an orphan, like him, and he knew that for her, he was the world. But to bring her along with him would give him a point of weakness, a target.

Shinobi can afford no such things.

With a gentleness that surprised himself, he faced her fully and knelt until they were on eye level. She bit her lip nervously, forcing herself not to tremble, and in that instant of hesitance and nervous adoring fear, he decided that a change of plans was called for. "Anko-chan. My apprentice. You have heard the news?"

She nodded, her small face curling into a frown. "They made Minato-baka the Hokage! It's not fair! It should be you! You're the strongest in the world! You see more and know more than that .. that.. brat!"

Something inside Orochimaru gave a tiny snap, and he laughed. Full, deep laughter, without rancor or hate, it was almost .. bright. Anko gave a start, never having heard him laugh like that. His eyes gleamed with some unexpressed emotion , as he let a smile cross his austere features. "So loyal, little Anko-chan. So fierce." He stood, crossing to his desk , and wrote out several phrases on a scroll, which he sealed with chakra and handed to her. "Give this to the Hokage, Anko. He will explain the rest."

"Oro-sama?" Her voice was quiet.

"I have to leave Kohona, little one. The climate here turns my stomach, and I fear that I would do something . . . that others would not appreciate if I stayed." His mind turned to the few samples of Senju DNA he'd obtained, and the ideas he had for secondary piggy-backs of seal arrays on prenatal flesh to encourage certain growth patterns. It would be easy to just get orphans from Kohona...but if he were discovered...

He shook the thought off. The maze of mind worked in strange angles – perhaps the ease at which he'd conducted the experiments he had thus far was, instead, a trap. Turning back to Anko, he smiled again. "In any event, it's time I traveled the world again. I have things I still must know, doors that need to be opened, stars that need to be made right again." He ruffled her messy hair, and then frowned as she looked up at him with an upset look.

"Take me with you! I can fight! I can travel! I won't get in the way, I promise! I . .I don't have anyone here who even cares about me … I mean.. Nai-chan and Ibi-chan – "

Orochimaru held up one hand. "Anko-chan. This is your village, and as you have said, your friends are here. More importantly, I cannot take you with me. Where I am going is dangerous, and I cannot be sure I can protect you." He traced her jawline with his fingers, smiling. "You are too important to me to die on some battlefield. Stay here, grow strong. Show them all why you were my chosen."

"B-but – " Her voice wavered, and he shook his head firmly.

He stood, tall and terrible, and gathered the last of his sealing scrolls into a bag, which he took up in one hand while he slung his back over his shoulder with the other. Anko looked up at him, framed in the doorway's light , trying not to cry. "W-when will you be back, Oro-sama?"

His voice is sibilant, but clear. "When you are strong enough to stand at my side, little one."

"He's gone, Hokage-sama."

The two ANBU kneeling in front of the old man standing on the roof of the Hokage tower show signs of travel – mud spattered shoes, a wind-blown appearance, slightly hard breathing. Hiruzen Sarutobi takes this all in with a single glance, puffing quietly on his pipe.

"And you've searched his labs and facilities?"

The leftmost ANBU nodded, his Owl mask bobbing. "Hai. There were a great deal of scrolls and other materials missing, but the bulk of his research equipment was still there. According to the medic-nins, it's all related to various chemical productions, and other fairly benign topics. There is no evidence of .. .live human experiments, except the two authorized Iwa captives held at ANBU HQ."

Sarutobi sighed, closing his eyes with a weary expression. He'd heard of several missing children, and had sent out several ANBU attempting to locate them. Twice, the missing-nins behind the captures had claimed to be working for Orochimaru. Danzo implied that perhaps he had finally gone off the rails, experimenting on humans.

He'd sent out a dozen ANBU strike teams to raid his various facilities...and come up empty. Nothing. Not a single incriminating thing. Orochimaru had been working on healing medicines, on interrogation drugs, on new jutsus.

On making his village stronger. And Hiruzen, instead of trusting his student, had trusted the whispers and warnings of others.

The letter sitting on his desk, brought to him by a tearful Anko, was proof enough that his student had turned his back on him.

"Sarutobi-sama,

I do not address you as sensai, since I can only presume that you no longer feel I am a fit student. I am leaving Kohona, to explore the world in peace, to research the properties of the minerals of Kuso and the Hero Water of Taki, and whatever else catches my eye. My apprentice, Anko, has grown to be a strong, willful kunochi, and needs to grow on her own. As a last request, I'd ask that she be considered, when the time is right, for promotion to jonin.

I will not bother explaining why I am leaving. It should be apparent to you. I have striven as hard as I could to try to be of use, but I see no reason to chain myself here when I am unneeded. I will not live forever, and the world is such a vast place after all.

You've let Jiraya and Tsunade-hime wander the world at their whim, so I ask you at least accord me enough respect to do the same. Your new Hokage will have no use for my advice, I am sure, being a faithful student of Jiraya and yourself.

I'll return when something interesting happens. I am sure that those who were always uncomfortable around me will not miss my presence, and those who have always mistrusted my motives will use this as proof that I am , indeed, a snake. I no longer care, Sarutobi-sama.

Enjoy your retirement – Orochimaru"

He pulled his hat down slightly, shading his eyes.

"Hokage-sama?"

With a slow exhalation, he gave a weary nod. "Pull back your teams, Owl. Enter Orochimaru into the travel log as on sabbatical, like we did with Tsunade-hime. There's nothing left to be done."

The two ANBU leapt away, and the old man rubbed his eyes. "Oro-kun, I've failed you again."