I don't own Naruto or any of the characters or situations associated with it.

My thanks to Third Fang for his Chakra Meter idea in the excellent story Yet Again With A Little Extra Help (Story ID s/5218118/1/Yet-again-with-a-little-extra-help).

If you haven't read it, do so. Trust me on this.

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Trust

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"… and this is now your room." Anko finished, sliding open the door to reveal a small room equipped with a futon, cupboard, wardrobe and several shelves. "So, before you hit the sack, anything I need to know? Do you sleep-walk, sleep-talk, drool or anything like that? 'cause I don't."

Naruto looked at her blankly and Anko grinned. "Oh, here are some pajamas for you, and don't come into my room unless it's an emergency. I'm still on combat reflex and I'd hate to skewer you to the wall. I'd never get the stains out."

Naruto grinned at that comment as he stepped through and looked round.

"Clean clothes go in the wardrobe, just dump them in and I'll show you how to arrange them tomorrow. Dirty clothes in this hamper for washing. Your weapons I'd recommend go on these shelves here, again I'll show you a good way of sorting them out tomorrow. Now get ready for bed."

"Thanks, Anko-nee-san." Naruto said, absently removing his tunic and pulling his shirt up before freezing at Anko's gasp. Suddenly remembering his new tenants, he dropped the hem of his shirt, but it was too late. Anko grabbed him and lifted his shirt, staring at the slits in his skin.

"Naruto… what…?"

"You can't tell!" Naruto blurted out, panicked. "You can't! The Hive is my first true friend!"

Anko stared at him, then pushed him so that he ended up sitting on his futon. Settling down cross-legged in front of him, Anko stared at him for a long moment.

"When, where and how did you get those… those whatever they are? And just what are they?"

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Anko rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Let me see if I understand. After you were thrown out of the orphanage by the bitch who runs the place, you found an old hut and decided to spend the night there. Although you don't really remember it, you somehow made contact with the Hive and then woke up, finding that it had wrapped you in a cocoon."

"And Kurama." Naruto added, trying to be helpful. Anko winced.

"And you made contact with the Kyuubi as well." Anko sighed. "And since at least one Aburame attacked you in the past, you don't want anything to do with them, despite now being a bug user. May I see one of those bugs?"

Naruto raised one hand and a bug flew out of his sleeve, landing on Anko's extended finger. For several seconds, she frowned at it, then with a panicked yelp she flung herself backwards, dropping the bug as she did so.

"That's a Death Bite Beetle! Those things are so lethal that… and you have a colony of them in you? Sweet Kami!" She hyperventilated.

"Three colonies." Naruto corrected. "Well, they were three colonies, they kind of became one. I think. Wait… they're still working on becoming one."

"You're in contact with them?" Anko gasped and Naruto nodded. "Urm, can you tell them I'm not going to hurt you?"

"They already know." Naruto shrugged. "Everything I see or hear, they do. And the other way around if I want it, I'm still getting used to that."

Anko slumped for a moment, then she looked at the bug that was hovering in front of her. "What do you want?"

"You have chakra that is not yours on you, a chakra that contains a fragment of spirit that is not you. We do not know its purpose, we are curious."

Anko stared at Naruto who coughed in embarrasment. "That was the Hive. What were they talking about?"

"Something that stops me from being promoted to Jonin." Anko said slowly. "Look, it's getting late. You get changed and get some sleep, I need to rack out too. Your Hive will stay secret between us, heck, I'll even ferret out a few insect-based Jutsu for you to study…"

"That is not necessary, but the Hive thanks you." Naruto interrupted in the strange buzzing voice of the Hive. "The Hive is mantaining a watch on the Aburame trainees and memorising their lessons. We will provide our Host with the proper instruction when he has advanced enough to use the lessons without threat to himself. Wow, that really feels weird."

"You… have real-time communications?" Anko asked incredulously. Naruto looked blank for a moment, then nodded. "Bloody hell. Please tell me you want to become a ninja?"

"I wanna become Hokage!" Naruto half-shouted and Anko's grin returned.

"Gaki, if you have even half the potential I think you have, you're going to be the greatest recon/assassination specialist ever! Okay, tomorrow, we'll talk more and run a few tests. I'll grab something from the Academy tonight to help."

Naruto blinked as Anko leapt to her feet and strode out of the door, pausing just long enough to close it behind her.

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"Morning, Gaki."

Naruto blinked several times, rubbing his eyes as he took in the odd device in the corner. On one wheeled stand stood a metal ball with some braided wires linking it to a second stand, on which a screen was mounted.

"What… is that?" Naruto asked, pointing. Anko didn't even bother to look behind her as she pushed a bowl of cereal across and motioned for him to dig in.

"That, gaki, is a Chakra Meter. It's one way to measure chakra. You pump some of your chakra into the ball and the screen shows how much you have. Anything below 50 is civilian. Genin usually have somewhere around 150 once they graduate, chunin about 500, Jonin 1,500, although Tobesku Jonin usually have around 1,000 to 1,200 and Kage have 5,000 or so. In his prime, the Old Man had around 8,000, I don't know what he's on now. Highest I ever heard of was a ninja from Kiri, they said his was over 12,000. So, once you finish… your… that was fast."

Naruto grinned as he put the spoon down and hopped off the chair. Anko rose and walked over the the machine, kicking a storage scroll out of the way as she did so.

"Now, do you know what your chakra feels like? I… forgot to ask last night."

Naruto opened his mouth, then his eyes glazed over. Anko leaned against the wall and watched curiously as Naruto remained stock-still for almost a minute, then he nodded.

"Yep, got it. Thanks, Hive. Anko-nee-san, the Hive wants to know if it should help at all?"

"Ummm, not really." Anko mused. "Just have it keep taking as much chakra as it normally does so we can see what we have left over to work with. Now watch, this is how you do it."

Naruto watched wide-eyes as Anko placed her hands on the ball and frowned slightly. A few seconds later, the screen seemed to blur into life, finally stopping with the number 1,278 on it.

"As you can see, I'm well above normal chunin levels, but still nowhere near a full Jonin." Anko explained, releasing the ball and rubbing at the side of her neck. A moment later, the numbers blurred and vanished. "Your turn."

Naruto leapt forwards and placed his hands on the metal sphere. Closing his eyes, he pulled up the memory of what his chakra felt like (as supplied by his Hive), then concentrated on sending the feeling into the sphere. Behind him, Anko whistled.

"Wow, 2,271? At five? With three colonies of Death Bite Beetles supported? Gaki, that's a hellova lot of chakra, but your control is gonna suck. To hell with the leaf exercise, we're gonna have to start you on tree-climbing and water-walking. And I'm not sure it'll be enough. No way are you going to be able to do a regular Bunshin."

"Bug Bunshin?" Naruto suggested and Anko shook her head.

"Not in public. If you can learn it, fine, but keep it secret. Okay, take this card and channel your chakra into it, just like you did with that ball."

Naruto accepted the piece of paper and pushed his chakra into it. The paper promptly split.

"Wind affinity." Anko mused. "This sucks, we've only got a couple of wind-types in Konoha, and there's no way in hell I'm gonna let that bastard Shimura Danzo get anywhere near you. And Asuma's off playing bodyguard… hellfire! I don't even know if there is such a thing as a Kazebunshin. I'll ask round, see if anyone knows any other form of Bunshin you might be able to use."

Naruto shrugged. He hadn't followed all of it, but he was certain that the Hive and Kurama would be able to explain it to him later.

"So, when do we start?"

"Not for a while." Anko sighed. "Sorry, Naruto, but you're just too skinny. First of all, we need to get some weight on you and ensure that you're not suffering from any vitamin deficiencies. Then we need to get started on your physical training as well, I don't think that Snake-style will work for you. Your body type isn't right for it. Before than, though, calligraphy. Can you read? And do you know the twelve jutsu hand-signs?"

Naruto shook his head and Anko growled.

"That bitch! It's like she wanted to ruin all your chances! Okay, you need to learn to read, and fast. Once you can read and write, everything else will become easier for you to learn."

Naruto picked up both pieces of the split paper and frowned in concentration. An instant later, both pieces split again, then one piece disintegrated, a second suddenly went very soggy, the third piece crinkled while the fourth caught fire and turned into ash.

"What… the… hell?"

"Thanks, Hive." Naruto grinned. "Anko-nee-san, that was the Hive helping out. It can change chakra."

Anko stared at Naruto for almost a minute before speaking. "The Hive. Can change. Your Elemental. Chakra affinity?"

Naruto grinned and nodded, causing Anko to facepalm.

"Of course the Hive can change your elemental chakra affinity. Well, that ups the scope of the bunshins you can use. I can't teach you the bug clone, but… I think I need to call in a favour or two. There are some other ninja I know, at least one will be willing to help with your training, but first of all, I'll need to instruct you in the basics. It'll take a while, though and… and… and I think we need to see the Old Man."

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"Hey, Jiji! Anko-nee-san's flat is awesome and she's really nice! She's going to train me to be a ninja so I can become Hokage!"

Hiruzen looked up from the babbling child in his arms to see Anko leaning against the wall, grinning.

"That's good to hear, Naruto. So, Anko, what did you need?"

"A Jutsu." Anko said simply. "I… borrowed the chakra meter from the Academy, I've returned it so don't worry, but Naruto already has Jonin level chakra stores. He's going to need days of chakra exercises before he can get it under any sort of control, and I thought of a way to get it done quicker without losing hours to boredom."

"Oh?"

"I finally remembered seeing Inu-Sempei using it. Kage Bunshin." Anko stated and Hiruzen's eyebrows rose in understanding. "For me and him. My rating is in the 1,200's, so I've probably got enough for a couple of clones, his is over 2,000 now. Probably means he can do almost half a dozen of them now, and who knows how many as he gets older."

"I see." Hiruzen nodded. "Very clever, Anko. Normally I would say no, but… over 2,000 you said? Very well. Wait here a moment."

Rising from his seat, Hiruzen walked across to a cupboard in the corner of his office and opened it, revealing a large scroll. Placing it on his desk, he unrolled it slightly, then motioned for Anko to look at it.

"Here, read, memorise and copy onto this scroll, destroy it once Naruto's learned it. Naruto, Kage Bunshin work like this… Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A puff of smoke appeared and a trio of Hiruzens appeared by the first.

"Wow!" Naruto gasped. "Does this mean you can do your Hokage stuff while still having fun?"

Hiruzen froze, then exchanged shocked glances with Anko and his duplicates. A moment later, the trio of clones facepalmed in unison while Hiruzen walked over to the wall, removed his hat and started to gently beat his forehead against the wall.

"Jiji?"

"Baka, baka, baka, baka, baka, baka…" Hiruzen muttered, punctuating each repetition with a gentle thud.

"It's okay, Naruto." One of the clones said reassuringly while the other two moved across to Hiruzen's desk and started to sort through the piles of paperwork that had not been covered by the giant scroll. "Hiruzen-taicho suddenly realised how the Fourth was able to do the paperwork so fast. How are you doing, Anko?"

"Just finishing copying down the description." Anko grinned. "Thanks, old man."

"Good." Hiruzen said, as he moved away from the wall to roll the large scroll up and return it to the cupboard. "Go on with you, have fun."

Anko led Naruto to the door, pausing to let a relieved-looking Aburame Shibi in. As the closed the door, they heard him speak.

"Hokage-sama, our monitoring seals have confirmed that there are no living Kikkai in the forbidden shed any more, and none were detected leaving. With your permission, we would like to declare the Death Bite… Beetle… programme… I admit to curiousity, why is your forehead bruised?"

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"Alright." Anko said, looking at the boy standing before her on the training ground. "According to the description, this technique uses chakra to effectively duplicate yourself. It splits the chakra used evenly between the user and the clones, but it doesn't say you have to use all your chakra, so… try doing it with only a bit of your chakra. Say, one-tenth of it?"

Naruto nodded and made the hand-seal for the technique. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A cloud of smoke surrounded him and Anko's eyes widened as a dozen Naruto's emerged. "Bloody hell! Eleven on your first try?"

"Wahoo!" the Naruto's shouted, leaping round, then several of them paused.

"That's weird." One of them said. "I can't hear the Hive."

"Yeah, it's really quiet, I don't think I like it." Said a second one. Anko shrugged.

"Okay, all clones to me, we're going to be doing tree-climbing to get your chakra under control. First, make a ram seal and focus your chakra into your feet, then try to walk up a tree, like this."

All the clones made appreciative noises as Anko strolled up the tree and out along the underneath of a branch before dropping back down to the ground.

"Too much chakra, you get blown off, too little, you slide down. Okay, Naruclones, start! Original, let's try something else."

As eleven of the Naruto's sprinted across to the trees, the original walked up. "Yes, nee-san?"

"It's sensei when I'm teaching." Anko corrected. "Now, try the clone technique again, same as before, but this time have the Hive join in."

Naruto blinked, then his face went blank for almost a minute. Anko took the time to watch the clones, seeing several of them propelled almost violently away from the trees while others made it up several steps before sliding down.

"I think we've got it, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Another cloud of smoke marked the appearance of a further ten Narutos, all of whom promptly clutched at their heads.

"Naruto!"

"It's… it's alright." One of the Naruto's said as they started to straighten up. "We apologise, we did not expect that to happen. We have dealt with the problem, it will not happen again. What the Hive said. That was weird."

"But we all feel the Hive now." A second Naruto said. "Hey, I can see through all of your eyes!"

"I can see through yours." A third one said."This is amazing!"

Anko paused, then pointed to a clone watching them from atop a branch halfway up. "You, excellent work, now dispel!"

The clone vanished and all the other Naruto's paused as the memory of the clone's actions washed through their minds. A few seconds later, several of the clones who had been sliding off tried again, this time sticking to the sides of the trees. Anko grinned almost manically.

"Damn, Gaki, you're gonna be a chakra powerhouse! You'll be able to learn ninjutsu almost as fast as the Uchiha. Okay… enhanced clones, join in with the tree climbing. Go!"

Nine Naruto's ran towards the trees and Anko looked at the remaining one. "As for you, come on. Time for a run. Clones can help with chakra control and technique learning, but only the original you can build up muscle. Let's go!"

"Yes, sensei!"

Anko loped off and Naruto scrambled to catch up with her, settling into a rapid pace of two strides for every one of Anko's.

"Tell me when you start to get tired, Gaki. Training does no good if you exhaust yourself and can't move."

"Yes, sensei."