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

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Training

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"Wake up, Gak-uuurk!"

Anko slammed into the floor as the seven-year-old Naruto tackled her.

"You're getting better at hiding, gaki." Anko grinned, ruffling the younger boy's hair. "But who's that I sensed in your bed?"

The shape under the covers vanished and as the blanket settled, a small hint of smoke emerged. Anko facepalmed.

"You're getting too good with those Kage Bunshin of yours." She sighed. "Alright, you can get off me now."

Naruto grinned at her and vanished, revealing that he had been another clone.

"Gaaah, twice in one morning." Anko growled, then she pulled her left sleeve up to reveal an armlet with various kanji inscribed on it. "Hive, where's Naruto?"

A small beetle emerged from a hole in the edge of the armlet and flitted across it, pausing on various kanji before returning to its metal nest. Anko read the kanji as it did so.

"Food, yes, training, eight, three, morning. Naruto's had breakfast and is on training ground 83. Got it. Naruto, I'll be there once I've eaten."

The beetle flew onto the 'Yes' kanji, then vanished again and Anko lowered her sleeve and headed to the kitchen.

"Eighty three? Why the heck is that number so familiar?"

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"…your youthful energy is most inspiring, Naruto-kun!"

Anko's eyes widened in horrified shock as she recognised the exuberant voice. Naruto's response only confirmed her fears.

"Thank you, Gai-sensei."

Anko burst out of the undergrowth and breathed a sigh of relief. Although Gai stood resplendent in his green spandex bodysuit, new Jonin vest and orange legwarmers, Naruto had not followed suit. Gai had obviously failed to persuade him to ditch his black trousers (with greaves!) and long-sleeved top or his most recent grey short-sleeved silk knee-length Haori which had been made for him by his Hive. Although she couldn't see them, Anko was fully aware of the semi-concealed flaps and slits in the top which allowed the Kikkai to deploy rapidly while still being concealed under the Haori, as well as the inner pockets and scroll-holders which let Naruto carry his ninja gear without being slowed down too much.

"Good morning, Gai." Anko said. Gai grinned so widely that Anko swore his teeth sparkled.

"A most youthful morning to you, Anko-san!" he declaimed, giving her a thumbs-up and another of his borderline-disturbing grins.

"Gai-sensei was saying that Academy-style Taijutsu is not suited to me." Naruto said with a smile. "He suggested Fox-style, but I want to learn Preying Mantis as well, it looks really cool!"

Anko sagged slightly in relief. "Gai…?"

"Young Naruto-kun managed to keep up with me during my morning warm-up, Anko-san." Gai said, giving the boy a proud look. "For a token fee, I would be happy to instruct him in the arts of Taijutsu, it will be excellent training for me for the day that I take on a team of genin of my own."

Anko paled, a vision of Gai with a trio of mini-clones searing itself into her imagination.

"Will Naruto be joining the Academy next year? I know that the normal age for joining is nine, but Naruto has much promise that should be worked with."

Anko glanced at Naruto, who was sending her a pleading look. Releasing a sigh, she nodded.

"I'll have the paperwork filled out before the new Academy year starts."

"And while I am in Konoha, both of you are more than welcome to join me in my early-morning workouts!"

Anko blanched. Although she worked far harder than most Jonin, since the seal on her shoulder made her mastery of high-powered jutsu very unreliable, she had seen the insane self-torture that Gai called training.

"Ummm, thanks, Gai, but…"

"Of course." Gai asid agreeably. "I am fully aware that my training regime is considered insane by many and that it does not suit everyone, but I feel that Naruto will benefit from it, since his youthful power is already shining brightly!"

"Okay, Gai." Anko conceded, "But no spandex! Naruto and I worked hard to get his outfit like that, with all the pockets, holsters and holders in concealed yet reachable places, so if I catch him in a spandex bodysuit…"

Gai swallowed as Anko licked the edge of the kunai that had somehow appeared in her hand, then pointed it at his groin.

"Yay, training!" Naruto cheered. Anko grinned almost ferally.

"By the way, Gai, Naruto knows the Kage Bunshin, along with the learning aspects of it. That should help you with the mental aspects of the training."

Gai's face lit up as if the sun had shone all its light on him. "Ah, that is excellent! I had worried about how long it would take to teach him, with clones, he can do weeks of training in a single day while I work on increasing his physical prowess! I think that wrist and ankle weights would be an excellent start. Perhaps weight seals on his greaves."

Naruto blinked and then stared at Anko. "This is payback for that prank I pulled last week, isn't it?"

Anko simply grinned.

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"Anko-san, may I talk with you? It is… about Naruto."

Anko nodded and motioned for Gai to sit down opposite her. Gai waved for a waiter, ordered some water and a plate of fruit, then turned to stare at her, his expression totally serious.

"So, what's up? It's only been a week, lessons going bad?"

"Quite the opposite, I assure you." Gai replied, accepting the goblet and filling it from the carafe of iced water. "He drinks in knowledge like the desert drinks rain. Coupled with his Kage Bunshin letting him practice his Katas while he himself exercises, Naruto is indeed making progress. By the time Academy starts, he will be more skilled in Taijutsu than many Chunin."

Anko swallowed her Dango and looked up ay Gai, meeting his gaze levelly.

"So, if everything's going well, what did you want to see me about?"

"Why is he not an Aburame?"

Anko nodded in understanding. "He doesn't like the clan, but won't tell me why. I'm not sure if it's something they did to him, or if its something they did to the Hive, but…"

Gai shook his head as Anko trailed off. "That was not quite what I meant to ask. He uses Kikkai of a sort I have never seen before. How?"

"Long story." Anko sighed. "And you can't tell anyone."

Gai nodded slowly and Anko finished off her last stick of Dango. Pausing long enough for the waiter to place the plate of fruit in front of Gai, Anko leaned forwards.

"The reason he gained the Kikkai is that no-one taught him how to read before he was thrown out of the orphanage…"

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"Alright, Naruto-kun, today we double the numbers of clones you use, we are going to perfect your youthful fighting skills before you enter the Academy!" Gai proclaimed, then he lowered his voice.

"Anko-san has told me that you can create clones that can share memories without having to dispel. If you could, can you make two for each group?"

Naruto nodded and made a familiar hand-seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

As Gai watched, Naruto repeated the process, this time producing a dozen clones instead of the two-hundred of the first wave.

"Clone commanders ready to deploy, sir." Naruto grinned and Gai looked round.

"Group one, led by you two. Forty clones tree-climbing. Group two, led by you two, forty clones water-walking. Group three and four, thirty clones each and you four, taijitsu katas. Fox and Mantis respectively. Group five, calligraphy, no complaining! You two lead, thirty clones practice. Paper, ink and brushes are in the box over there. Final group, elemental manipulation, use leaves to practice on. Naruto, ten laps around the lake, go!"

Naruto jogged off without complaint and Gai watched him leave before pulling up his sleeve, revealing an armlet similar to Anko's.

"Relay to Anko, training now. Query, lunch at noon?"

For a moment, nothing happened, then the bug flew out of its recess and landed on the kanji for 'yes'. Gai grinned.

"Thank you, Hive. No further message at this time."

The bug flew back to the small hole it inhabited and Gai pulled his sleeve back down.

"Such a shame that the Aburame don't have this type of skill, it would be invaluable in the field." He mused, then he started jogging, carefully pacing himself so that he met Naruto on his second lap of the lake, matching his speed perfectly.

"Report."

"Tree climbers going up and down trees, water walkers… water… walking… no problems reported."

Gai nodded, then looked sharply at the clones they were passing. "I see you're making progress with the wind affinity."

"Yeah, Anko had to cut some fabric last night ad it suddenly occurred to me, using one wind blade is not very effective, but wind scissors? Way easier."

Gai raised his brows in surprise. "Two wind blades? Isn't that harder to do?"

"A bit." Naruto shrugged, "But it does the job better."

Gai glanced back, then made a decision. "Detach five clones each from the water and tree groups, have them join the leaf group."

Naruto nodded, his face going blank for a few seconds as he relayed the order. Less than a minute later, ten clones joined the leaf-cutting group.

"Good, now dispel the best-performing clone in each group except the calligraphy one."

Again, Naruto seemed to zone out, then he nodded. "Done."

Gai glanced back at the leaf group and saw them all pause, before re-applying themselves to their tasks with newfound zeal.

"Excellent, did you get the memories from them too?"

Naruto nodded and Gai's grin widened. "Excellent! Then let us pick up the pace to better fan our flames of youth!"

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"Urgh."

Anko grinned as Gai lowered an obviously-exhausted Naruto into the chair beside her.

"I take it training went well?"

"rrrrrruuurgh."

Anko grinned at Naruto's moan, then she looked over at Gai and her eyes widened in shock. Gai was actually showing signs of tiredness.

"What in Kami's name happened to you two?"

Naruto flopped forwards, his head thunking on the table as Gai leaned back in his chair and motioned for a waiter.

"Naruto-kun and I… we went all-out. He used his clones, both types, and I didn't hold back… three glorious hours of solid taijutsu combat."

"I must have used over a thousand clones." Naruto muttered and Gai nodded.

"We found that his… enhanced clones can take up to three solid blows before dispelling. At the start, his clones were fighting as a disorganised mob, but by the time we were half-way through, Naruto had got the idea of co-ordinated attacks."

"I actually landed several blows." Naruto added and Gai nodded.

"Naruto seems to have developed a hierarchy for his clones, his joke about his enhanced clones being commanders seems… oddly apt. Do you wish to explain?"

"Nah." Naruto groaned. "Too tired."

Gai nodded and poured himself a drink of water, paused, and pushed it into Naruto's hand. Pouring himself another, he took a sip, then started to speak.

"Naruto finds it hard to deploy more than a dozen directly-linked enhanced bunshin due to the mental aspect which includes the sharing of sight. However, we discovered a few days back that he can create Kage Bunshin using his Kikkai as a core. This is not the Mushi Bunshin of the Aburame, this is a Kage Bunshin with extra stability granted by the Kikkai inside it. Since it links directly to the Hive, Naruto can create over a hundred of them without suffering mental interference. In addition, they use less chakra than an Enhanced Bunshin, although it takes slightly longer to form them. They can also take up to six hits before dispelling, although when one is forcibly dispelled, it means the Kikkai inside perishes as well."

"Just one, though. The Hive has over a thousand already marked for that technique." Naruto interjected, raising his head to take a sip of the water. "I'm using them instead of the Enhanced Bunshin, they're way better, the link needs concentration, and is limited to words, but it means I can deploy far more without my mind melting down."

"Anyway, Naruto deploys them in a three-to-one ratio, one Bunshin-Senpai to three Kage Kikkai Bunshin. This lets him deploy them as teams, with instant reactive capabilities in a large-scale battle. I ambushed one team, and before I had dispelled half of them, six teams descended on me in a counter-ambush."

"Wow." Anko whispered. "He's an army of one!"

Gai nodded. "He will provide any team he is assigned to with a massive combat multiplier. His skills mean that he will be best suited to either heavy combat or recon."

"Recon?" Anko asked before she could stop herself, then she nodded. "Kage Bunshin for scouting and… Bunshin-Senpai? For communication… yeah. I can see that. I'm going to have to up your tracking training."

Naruto released a heart-rending groan and Anko grinned widely.

"Don't be like that, Gaki. This way, you'll fly up the ranks and take the hat just like you want."

"Hat?" Gai asked.

"Gaki wants to become Hokage." Anko said fondly. "I think he might just make it."

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Author's Afternote - This is as far as I got before my muse Kawarimi'd away.
I had planned for the Hive to help overpower Naruto by extracting his parents from the Seal and providing them with chakra to keep them stable, but I couldn't make it to that point.

Here's hoping someone can take this story on.