Author's notes: Thanks to everybody who read and reviewed this. So here's the next chapter so many of you asked so nicely for. It's amazing how this little side project of mine attracts attention faster than my main one. But no matter how much you'll plead, I'll still concentrate mainly on Little wooden men.

Warning: Sticks close to canon. Will anybody else complain about it after you have been warned? I promise I'll try to be more original in the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I used some lines directly form the manga.

Through the Eyes of Death


The morning dawned bright and clear, when the three genin gathered on Training Grounds Seven. All of them were carrying large backpacks on their backs and all of them were yawning, Sasuke and Sakura from not being used to getting up so early in the morning, Naruto from being awake most of the night. After Obito had told him how their team did the test and how Kakashi administered the test to every one of his assigned teams, he spent the afternoon scouting the training grounds, thinking up possible strategies and setting up traps. It always paid off to be prepared and even if they should fail today, he was going to give their tardy sensei a run for his money.

He was only a bit disappointed that it didn't occur to his teammates to at least take a look at the training grounds beforehand. It wasn't like they slept through Iruka's lessons about always being prepared. Was Sakura too busy bothering Sasuke and Sasuke too busy avoiding her that they didn't have the time? Or was it because Sasuke was the awesome Uchiha and he didn't need to prepare in order to pass? It didn't really matter anymore.

Naruto glanced around and saw Kakashi's soul through the foliage, sitting near the Memorial Stone Obito had told him about. The ghost was there as well. When he saw Naruto, he glided over to him, much to the displeasure of Sasuke's dead entourage.

"Hello," he greeted. "Are you ready for today?" Naruto nodded. "Good," Obito smiled. "It's about time somebody showed up the jerk, isn't it?" Naruto nodded again. "Say something, dude." Naruto just shot a glance at his teammates. Sakura shot a strange glance at him. Naruto stood up and started walking away. He wanted to talk to Obito in peace.

"Where are you going," shrieked Sakura. She was sleepy and hungry and all and all in a bad mood and Naruto gave her a perfect outlet for it.

"I'm just taking a walk, Sakura-chan," he explained.

"We are supposed to wait here, baka!"

"I'm not going far."

"Our sensei can show up any time," the pink-haired girl scowled.

"Aw, Sakura. He came three hours late yesterday and he couldn't even get to the roof on time. What makes you think he'll show up promptly today?" The kunoichi had no answer. Sasuke pretended he didn't hear them.

"Go and don't come back, you demon and the traitor as well," Fugaku snarled.

"Go," Mikoto added. Naruto obeyed. Nobody tried to stop him.

"So what do you want," he asked once they were out of sight (and hopefully earshot as well.)

"Me want something?" Obito had a too innocent expression.

"Then why did you come?"

"Can't I just come visit?"

"You can, but you make me look like a lunatic, talking to thin air and all." He gestured towards his teammates. "They already think I'm an idiot."

"Then let them," the Uchiha suggested.

"That's easy for you to say," the blond scoffed. "You aren't stuck on a team with them."

"Am I not? I can't leave Kakashi, remember."

"Sucks for you."

"Tell me about it," Obito rolled his eyes.

"He's coming here," Naruto whispered. "We have to quit."

"You're no fun," Obito complained, but Naruto ignored him. He returned to his teammates. They eyed him strangely, but he had lots of experience ignoring it. After a while he noticed even Kakashi going away. He yawned and laid down to catch on lost sleep.

"What are you doing, baka," Sakura scolded him.

"Sleeping," the blond replied. "That is until you woke me up."

"I can't understand how you can sleep at a time like that," the pinkette huffed.

"Easily," he explained. "I lay down and close my eyes."

"Baka," she scowled. "Our sensei can show up anytime."

"I don't think so." He could see Kakashi once again staring at the memorial stone out of the corner of his eye. He snuggled down comfortably and closed his eyes once more. Sakura huffed, but didn't bother him anymore. He promptly fell asleep.


Kakashi was staring at the Memorial Stone. For one time, he wasn't reminiscing about the past, but about the three genin currently waiting for him. They would call him tardy and lazy, but he had actually a good reason for not coming on time today. It was a part of his test.

You would weep, if you could see them, sensei, he thought. They're pathetic, nothing like we were. Sure Rin had a crush on me the size of Hokage monument, but even she had nothing on Sakura. And Sasuke. He's so cold and obsessed. I know I was bad but surely not like that. And Naruto. He's a joke. What is he even thinking, talking to thin air? Is he insane or what? How can somebody like him have anything to do with you? It hurts just to look at him. It feels like you died in vain.

And their teamwork, or rather lack of. It got even worse since yesterday. I gave them time to learn to work together, to make a strategy, and what did they do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Sasuke's brooding and probably plotting ways to kill Itachi, Sakura is fawning over him and Naruto is sleeping. And they call themselves shinobi? I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Never mind. I'm going to fail them and then I won't have to hear about them anymore. The Council can go screw themselves for all I care, in fact it would be hilarious watch them pop a vein or two. You would love it too, wouldn't you? I know how much you disliked dealing with them.

"Hey, Kakashi," Obito called. "Don't you think you left them waiting long enough?" The jounin didn't answer. He obviously didn't thing it was long enough. Obito sighed. This was going to be a long and boring wait.


"Naruto! Hey! Naruto! Wake Up!" The shouting and a feeling of cold were what woke the blond up. Obito was kneeling above him, trying to shake him and failing, since he had no physical body.

"I'm awake," he mumbled. Sakura looked at him strangely.

"Good," Obito said. "Kakashi's coming your way." There was no need to say it. Naruto could already see for himself. Then the silver-haired jounin appeared in front of them.

"Hey guys, good morning," he shouted.

"You're late," Sakura and Naruto shrieked in unison. Kakashi didn't even acknowledge their outburst.

"No excuse," Obito raised an eyebrow. "You're slipping, Kakashi."

The man in question ignored even that and put an alarm clock on a nearby log. Naruto smiled inwardly. So far everything went like Obito had told him.

"OK, it's set for noon," the masked man announced. Then he showed them two bells tied with strings. "Here are two bells, he said like they couldn't see them for themselves. "Your task is to take these from me before the time's up. Those who don't have bell by noon get no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but I'll eat my lunch right in front of you."

It's official, Naruto thought, he is a sadist. Sasuke's and Sakura's stomachs rumbled. Naruto had done as Obito told him and ate his breakfast.

"You only have to get one bell," Kakashi continued. "There are only two, so one of you would be definitely tied to the stump. And the person who doesn't get a bell fails, so at least one of you will be sent to the Academy." Most likely all three, Kakashi thought.

"Liar! Liar! Liar!" Obito chanted. His dead clansmen scowled.

"My son won't fail," Fugaku said. Mikoto nodded in approval.

"If you want, you can use shuriken and kunai," the jounin offered. "You won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill."

"But, you'll be in danger," Sakura stammered. And she seemed so clever at the Academy, Naruto thought ruefully. What does she think a bunch of fresh genin can do to a seasoned jounin?

"Yeah, you're so slow you can't even dodge a chalk," he couldn't help but remind him. "We'll definitely kill you!" The traps I've set beforehand should help a lot.

"In the real word, those with no talent often bark the loudest," Kakashi said in a tone reserved for the slowest of children. So far so good, Naruto thought. He's already underestimating me.

"You're in for a surprise," Obito shouted, but his warning fell on deaf ears.

"Well, ignore mister deadlast and start when I say."

Naruto scowled while inwardly he was laughing with glee. So far Kakashi had been reacting just as he expected. Time for the next part for the plan. He put on a furious expression. He didn't even have to pretend. The one-eyed man was seriously pissing him off. He withdrew a kunai and jumped straight at Kakashi. And exactly as he expected the jounin blocked his attack and twisted his arm around, so that the kunai was now pointing at his own neck. Naruto wriggled, trying to get free, but the silver-haired man held him steady.

"Calm down. I haven't said start yet." Sakura was watching it in disbelief. Geez, you would think she never heard about jounin before, Naruto thought. Sasuke on the other hand finally looked genuinely interested in something.

"Why so harsh, man," Obito shouted.

"Just kill the demon already," Fugaku advised.

"Well, you seem finally prepared to come at me with the intent to kill," Kakashi said with amusement. "So you've finally acknowledged me? Hehe, it seems like I'm finally beginning to like you guys." He sounded utterly insincere.

"Come on, Kakashi," Obito prodded. "Aren't they adorable?"

Kakashi finally released his captive. Naruto scowled, massaging his wrist. Inwardly he was doing a victorious jig. Mission accomplished, the tag was safely in the place. Now he only had to wait for the right moment to activate it.

"Begin!" Kakashi shouted. The three genin scattered.


Kakashi stood alone in the middle of the field. He couldn't see any of his students, but that didn't mean he didn't know where they were. He was a jounin for a reason while they were still genin.

"The most important thing for a shinobi is to be able to hide yourself," he said. Nice, they're hidden well, he thought. Then an orange eyesore appeared right in front of him. He closed his eye in exasperation. Sensei… is that even possible? He's a complete idiot.

"Come here and fight me," Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs. It made Kakashi wince. "I said fight me," the blond repeated.

"Uhm, you're a little bit off," Kakashi replied.

"No, you are," Obito corrected.

"The only thing that's a bit off is your haircut," the orange-clad genin called running towards Kakashi. The jounin reached into his pocket. The genin slowed his approach, watching him warily.

"Shinobi fighting lesson number one – taijutsu," Kakashi said in the talking-to-an-idiot voice.

"Tell me you aren't going to do that," Obito whined. "Please no, please no…" Kakashi took out a small orange book. "Oh no!" Obito clutched his head. "Do you have to read it all the time? Get a life finally, why don't you, man?!"

"What's wrong," Kakashi taunted. "Hurry up and attack me!"

"But, hey, what's with the book?"

"He's a pervert," Obito explained. "Pervert! Pervert! Pervert! Pervert! Pervert!"

"I just want to know what happens next," the silver-haired man answered.

"Oh man! You've read it only about a hundred times!"

"But don't worry, it won't make a difference against you, guys," the open pervert added. Naruto just about had it. Kakashi was going down, painfully.

"I'll totally kick your ass!" He attacked Kakashi. The jounin blocked without effort, his attention seemingly concentrated on the book. This went on for a minute until Kakashi got bored with it and with great speed appeared behind Naruto.

"A shinobi isn't supposed to get caught from behind, baka," he said, folding his hands into a seal, still holding the book between his palms.

"Not that," Obito wailed. "Anything but that!"

"Naruto, run away, you're going to get killed," Sakura shrieked. Maybe there is hope for us, Naruto thought.

"To late," Kakashi announced gleefully. He slammed his fingers into Naruto's butt. "Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Style: One Thousand Years of Pain!"

This actually has a name, Naruto wondered before his clone dispersed and he was hit with very painful memories. Ouch! How comes this isn't a kinjutsu? There must be some law prohibiting doing that to children.

Kakashi was surprised. I was fighting a clone all the time? I didn't even notice. But where is the real one?

"He got you, He got you," Obito danced around.

Naruto in his hiding spot smiled. He had gathered a lot of information about Kakashi's fighting style and he discovered that Sakura might be willing to cooperate after all. Things were looking up. Then Sasuke decided to attack.


It seemed like the perfect opportunity. Kakashi was distracted, puzzling over what Naruto had just done. He launched multiple shuriken at him. Kakashi batted them away without even looking. A set of kunai came after that and this time the jounin was hit. Or so Sasuke thought, because the next moment he turned into a log.

Kawarimi? Crap. He now knows where I am.He quickly jumped from his hiding position, but it did him little good. Kakashi appeared right in front of him, the infernal book in his hands.

"So, the village's most powerful clan, the Uchiha clan. This could be interesting," he drawled lazily. Sasuke's only response were thrown shuriken. "Such obvious attacks are useless," Kakashi taunted. That was when he noticed one of the projectiles cutting a wire. A trap? A number of kunai sailed towards him. He evaded without trouble. The Sasuke jumped at him and engaged him in close combat.


Naruto was running through the woods. He could see Sakura's soul in front of him clearly. It didn't take him long to reach the girl.

"Sakura-chan," He whispered.

"What do you want, baka?"

"Do you want to pass?"

"Of course!"

"Then we have to cooperate."

"Cooperate with you?" She scowled. "I won't let Sasuke fail."

"You won't. Whole squad either passes or fails."

"What? But Kakashi sensei said…"

"And you believed him. He is testing our will to stick together by pitting us against each other."

"And I'm supposed to believe that, baka? You're just trying to separate me from Sasuke-kun, so you'll have me all for yourself."

"That's not true, Sakura-chan."

"Liar!" She hit him on the head.

"This way you're going to fail and be separated form Sasuke for sure. Hey, are you hungry? I brought some food." He showed her a box of onigiri. Sakura's stomach rumbled loudly.

"You brought food? But Kakashi-sensei said…"

"And once again you believed him. He lied once, why can't you believe he lied again?"

"But he's our sensei!"

"And he's testing us. Eat up. Your brain is going to work better with some fuel." She punched him again. "I take it as thank you." He rubbed his sore head. Then he was assaulted by memories from a dispelled clone.

"Kakashi just got Sasuke," he announced.

"What," Sakura startled. "How do you know?"

Naruto ran through the memories in his head. The Uchiha had put up quite a fight, but to no avail. Kakashi was too good for him. And in the end… what had possessed him to stand so long on one spot? Wasn't he supposed to be a genius? He should know better than that.

"Now I know you are a liar," the pink-haired girl scoffed. "Get lost, I don't want to do anything with you." She stood up and ran off.

Naruto sighed. This wasn't going well. He created a Kage Bunshin to follow Sakura and went to find Sasuke, but he didn't have much hope in the Uchiha listening to him.


Sakura was racing through the trees. She had to find Sasuke-kun quickly. She couldn't believe Naruto when he said that Sasuke was already defeated, but there was always doubt. What if something really happened to Sasuke-kun?

Then she saw Kakashi standing in front of her, reading his book like he didn't have a care in the world. He didn't notice me, he thought.

"Sakura behind you." She turned startled. Kakashi-sensei was now standing directly behind her, his hands forming the Rat seal. Leaves swirled around, obscuring her vision. When they cleared, Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.

What was that? What's going on? Where's sensei, she thought frantically.

"Sakura!" That voice!

"Sasuke-kun!" He's calling for me, kyaah! Inner Sakura was dancing with glee. She ran where she heard the voice from.

There was Sasuke leaning to a tree trunk, kunai and shuriken protruding from him, blood flowing freely from his wounds, his leg twisted at an unnatural angle.

"Sasuke-kun…" she whispered. She couldn't believe it. So Naruto was right after all. "AAAAAH!" She screamed and fainted.

"That might have been a bit too much," Kakashi muttered not even lifting his eye from his book.