Can you See Me Now? Chapter 1: Graduating Class is so dull…

Naruto Uzumaki, a short blond boy with bright smiling blue eyes and a horrendously orange jump suit, was fidgeting in his seat. The class was almost over for the day and he couldn't sit still any longer. Iruka-sensei was going over the information for the Genin exam that would take place the following day. Naruto was hoping to be able to pull off his plan without any problems. The past two exams had ended badly for various reasons. His first one, two years ago now, he had begged Iruka for weeks to be allowed to enter the exam early. Naruto had been hoping that he would be able to get just the right mix of average and just below, with a couple of obvious advanced areas to graduate without much attention being brought. That hadn't been the case.

He had bombed the written test far too much, and his taijutsu was too lenient for the teachers to allow him to pass on kunai and shuriken accuracy alone. The clone jutsu was what really got him though. He hadn't expected them to insist on only three clones. When the boy practiced on his own, as no one would be willing to help him anyway, he always made at least ten clones. He knew they weren't exactly the academy standard ones, but they worked well enough. His version only had one hand sign too! But that hadn't been allowed in the exam.

And so the boy utterly failed his first graduation test. That was alright though, he had reasoned at the time. He now knew what to expect from it the next time around. But his karma was apparently still as black as it could be. Iruka hadn't been on the team of teachers conducting the exam the next year. There was one kunoichi and two shinobi, all of whom made their disdain of the boy quite clear in the first few seconds after he walked in the door. The glares he had received made him flinch, despite having dealt with similar things all his life. He had slunk to the back and tried to be as invisible as possible. It hadn't worked. He had been called first to do all of the demonstrations- in front of the entire class!

Naruto had paled and tried to make sure his hands weren't sweaty. He always had more trouble with the seals when he was nervous or his hands were wet. It hadn't made a difference in the end. The boy could feel all eyes on him, something he couldn't stand. Even after his attempts to get over his fear with his many pranks and being openly called out for them, he still felt his chakra and nerves fluctuating wildly with unease.

He remembered thinking he wished he could be swallowed up into the floor as he stood and failed his ninjutsu test. That exam day had been the worst day at school he could recall. The entire day, he was the target of all the teacher's ill will. The kunai he was given were tampered with and the shuriken bent, his test looked different than the others and he was pitted against the taijutsu prodigy Rock Lee in his spar. Understandably, he had failed miserably again.

And now it what the third year he had entered these exams. This entire year had been horrible. Bullies and teasing were only the tip of the iceberg. Life outside of school had also taken a turn for the worse. His little apartment had long been his haven, a somewhat safe place away from all the glares and insults. On the days he had to go out in the village, being hit with rocks and rotten food, he would always hurry home to curl up in his futon and look through his worn set of books and scrolls and pretend the outside world didn't exist.

This was one of the only reasons he was capable of doing much better at school than he showed. Jiji had taken time out of his busy schedule to teach the little blond to read and write when he was five or so. The extensive set of scrolls had mysteriously shown up on his kitchen counter a few weeks before he started the Academy when he was seven. Basics like history, math, geography and chakra paths were supplemented with more advanced scrolls on ninjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu and even a few on the art of sealing. The lonely boy had devoured all of them, and to his confusion, more kept appearing as time went on.

He had a box of over seventy scrolls and books now after five years of collecting them. He had read and studied and trained to the best of his ability when other children would have been off playing or spending time with family. Naruto never gave it much thought though. He had never been exposed to those things, and their lack was nearly unnoticed.

He did notice the sudden increase of violent activity recently. Before, he would be yelled at and thrown out of stores often, but never had people actively come after him. In the last year he had been chased or attacked at least once a week. His speed and stamina had increased drastically out of necessity. He could only find so many places to hide after all. His home too, was now a target. Spray painted words and threats were all over the walls when he came home from class and his things would disappear. His precious books had been saved only because he kept them in flat boxes beneath the floorboards.

Naruto had trouble sleeping, fearing that he would be caught unprepared. He also avoided the markets and stores even more than usual now. These two things, lack of sleep and food, contributed heavily to his current fidgety state. He was watching the clock, tuning out Iruka-sensei's voice and the murmurs of the other children. Minutes before he would be free, a sharp pain radiated suddenly from his forehead. He blinked, and heard the piece of chalk clatter to his desk. Sniggers and taunts of "dead last" and "typical moron" filled the room. Iruka was glaring at him, hands on hips.

"Naruto! This is important. Are you listening now?" Ah, there it was, the only person other than Jiji who would actually try to help him. Iruka's glares were not harsh and demeaning like all the others. The scarred teacher just wanted him to learn and do him best. Sorry Sensei, thought the boy with true regret. You probably won't ever see my best. Naruto was very fond of Iruka, and it was sad that the blond was hiding things from him. But it had to be done. The boy grinned, closing his eyes, and rubbed the red spot on his forehead.

"Hahah! Of course I was listening Iruka-Sensei! I am totally gonna graduate this time, believe it!" He said loudly. Iruka just nodded wearily.

"Now then, tomorrow at eight, we will begin the exam. Please be on time, or even early." He glanced at the clock. "Dismissed, see you all tomorrow." The mad rush of small bodies to get out the door was loud, covering the nearly silent escape of one orange clad boy out the closest window.

Naruto leapt from roof to roof, safely above the heads of temperamental villagers. Thanks god! I can go home now, and study. Maybe I can even afford to go to Ichiraku's tomorrow. He entered his apartment through the small window and quickly set up a trap in it. His door was already laced with four different traps in case anyone tried to get in. They didn't always keep people out, but they helped. The boy was eternally grateful to whomever was gifting him with all his books. The book on traps and snares was a very recent addition. He flopped on his futon and carefully pulled up the boards near his feet. His box of taijutsu scrolls was pulled out and he began to reread the second level ones for tomorrow. He drifted off to sleep like that after hours of reading.