Disclaimer:I don't own Naruto - the characters belong to Kishimoto

AN: For some odd reason, all of these seem to be depressing whenever I get around to working on them...

Summary: He may be the Sandaime Hokage but when it comes to the most precious person the village should have, he is nothing but a failure.


II. Failure


All shinobi wore masks at one point or another in their life. Some wore them constantly whereas others rarely wore them at all. It was some unspoken rule, that all shinobi create and wear a mask at one point or another in their life.

None of that consoled the Sandaime Hokage when he looked at Uzumaki Naruto, son of Namikaze Minato, and saw the eyes of one who had lived a lifetime of abuse and neglect behind the mask of a smiling prankster.

He had failed the boy and, in doing so, he had failed his student's student and the last wish of the Yondaime Hokage – "tell the villagers that he's a hero, oji-san" – and now he saw the product of his failure before his eyes.

("Do you remember me, Naruto-kun?"

Dull blue eyes – Minato's eyes – and Sarutobi couldn't meet the empty stare any longer and he turned away, just like everyone else had.

Failure. He had failed to protect Minato's child and now the boy was broken, perhaps beyond hope of repair.)

He had been a fool to think that the villagers would understand the sacrifice that Minato had made for the village's sake – the sacrifice that his son, Uzumaki Naruto, was now paying for.

They had not. They had not seen Naruto for what he was, a child innocent of all evils and bearer of the burden of being the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi no Kitsune. They saw a demon, the same demon that had destroyed their property and killed their kin. They saw a demon, and they resented Naruto for it and allowed hatred to fester in their hearts.

He had expected better of the shinobi of his village – nothing but tools for espionage and death – and he had placed his trust in them. They had failed to rise to meet his expectations. Their eyes had been clouded by hatred and the burning desire for revenge – fathers, mothers, siblings, blood-kin, friends, all lying dead on a battlefield that had been soaked by tears and blood as the village mourned the death of its leader and so many others – and they had seen the feral, grinning face of the Kyuubi no Kitsune in place of a sleeping boy.

'I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, Minato-kun. For what it is worth now…I am sorry.'

He resolved that he would not make the same mistake again and fail Naruto like he had his former student - Orochimaru, traitor to the village and S-class missing nin.

Deep down in his heart, Sarutobi knew that it was a promise he would not be able to keep – he was just one man, a mortal, and he was not infallible – and he silently mourned for the innocent of one Uzumaki Naruto.

He had failed to keep his promise to Minato and he would fail to keep his promise to protect Naruto once again.

Konohagakure's will of fire…it has disappeared. What light is there at the end of the tunnel now that all light had gone out? A red dawn is rising, the start of a new age…and we are all ancient relics, us Kages and the Sannin – relics that will disappear into the stream of time.

We, who promised our lives to the protection of the village, of our precious people...we have failed.