Mind, Magic, and Sword…wait what?

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto and the original idea for this fic comes from Christopher Scott.

The next day, Kakashi was up bright and early with a goal set in his mind. Ever since parting ways with his new students, he had been curious as to how and where the strange skills they had displayed had come from. After speaking with Iruka when he turned in his report on the results of his test (the other Jonin looked at him like he had grown a second head when he arrived not only on time, but early), he became even more curious, as Iruka's reports on their time in the Academy had no mention about any of their abilities and even showed a totally different psychological profile than what he had seen from the three earlier that day. Resolving to find out more, Kakashi created two Kage Bunshin and sent them to investigate Sasuke and Sakura while he himself went to check on Naruto.

When he arrived at Naruto's apartment, he frowned behind his mask at the thought that his sensei's son was living alone in one of the seedier parts of the village, but put that aside as something to worry about after he solved the mystery of Team 7. Walking up to the door, he knocked three times and was promptly greeted by Naruto and welcomed inside.

"Ah, Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto with a smile, "do come in."

"Why thank you," said Kakashi politely as he walked in and looked around at the blond's apartment.

The apartment was surprisingly clean for one that lived alone, with several bonsai trees sitting in the sun on a windowsill and a bamboo fountain sitting on a shelf. As for Naruto himself, he was wearing a casual orange yukata tied with a grey sash and wore geta sandals on his feet as he took a kettle from the stove and began to pour steaming water into a teapot.

"May I offer you some tea?" Naruto asked politely, "I was just about to have some myself."

"Sure," said Kakashi, prompting the blond to pour them both a cup of the steaming brew and place both on a table in the center of the room before pulling out his sword and a small whetstone.

"You don't mind if I do this while we talk, do you?" asked Naruto, "I need to be sure I maintain Tōsei regularly."

"It's fine," said Kakashi, seeing an opportunity to bring up one of the subjects he had wanted to discuss, "by the way Naruto, that sword, it is quite interesting."

"Why yes," said Naruto as he dragged the whetstone across the edge of his blade, "I am quite proud of Tōsei here. It is a fine blade indeed and I work hard to keep it that way."

"I am curious," said Kakashi, "where did you acquire such a blade?"

"Tōsei has been in my family for generations," said Naruto as he inspected his work before running the whetstone across the blade again, "it is a precious heirloom that I am proud to have inherited."

"Really now," mused Kakashi before thinking to himself, 'I don't recall sensei using any Kenjutsu, and Kushina-sama always preferred Taijutsu. And I swear I've never seen this blade any time before today, so where did he get it?'

All of this wasn't adding up, from what he'd seen during his time as an ANBU assigned to guard him, and from reports from the Academy instructors, the blond was a hyperactive ball of energy that regularly pranked people and made trouble in a bid to get attention, which also negatively impacted his studies, due to him lacking the discipline needed to focus and work. But what he was seeing here was completely the opposite: a boy that sat calm and collected before him as he meticulously sharpened the blade of his katana with a skillful precision that Kakashi hadn't seen since his last trip to Tetsu no Kuni. And Naruto was no slouch with the blade either, he had shown as much during the Genin Exam, in fact, he hadn't seen such skill outside that of a trained Samurai or one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. When had he had time to learn all of this?

"Is something wrong, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto suddenly, bringing his teacher out of his thoughts.

"I beg your pardon?" asked Kakashi, wondering if his student knew what he was thinking.

"With the tea," elaborated Naruto as he pointed to the cup that had been set before the masked Jonin, "you haven't even touched it. If the blend isn't to your liking, I can get another, I have many more to choose from."

"No," said Kakashi, "I'm sure it's wonderful. By the way, where is your Toilet?"

"Hm? Oh, it's that door there," said Naruto as he turned and gestured to a door, but when he turned back, Kakashi was placing his now empty teacup down on the table, causing the blond to glance back and forth from the cup to Kakashi's mask before raising an eyebrow.

"Well," said Kakashi, "that tea was quite good. And as it turns out I don't have to go after all, I'll just be heading out. Don't be late for training tomorrow Naruto-kun. Oh, and thank you again for your hospitality."

"I'll see you then, Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto as he checked the edge of his blade again, this time satisfied with his work, before retrieving some sword polish, "I look forward to the opportunity to learn from your experience."

The masked Jonin suppressed another eye twitch as he glanced at the blade and realized that he had not gotten any real answers to the questions he had about the blond, and nor was he going to if Naruto was going to dedicate himself to following this story of being a sort of Samurai-shinobi. Deciding to leave before his sanity, whatever was left of it after all this time, was eroded away completely, he headed towards the merchant section of the village and had just made it when one of his Kage Bunshin's memories came back to him, causing the twitch in his eye to return in full force as he received the recollections of its meeting with Sasuke.

xXsceneXx

'Everything seems normal,' mused Kakashi's Kage Bunshin as it approached the house Sasuke lived in, the teen having previously moved out of the Uchiha Clan Compound not long after the Massacre, and into a modest house provided by the council due to 'traumatic memories' and the like, 'but looks could be deceiving.'

As he walked up to the front door, he felt a strange tingling, similar to what he felt the last time someone tried to cast a Genjutsu on him, but he brushed it aside and made to knock on the door, but before he could, the door swung open all on its own, surprising the Jonin, but considering everything he'd seen in his life, a door opening on its own didn't even rank in the top twenty.

The inside however…

Kakashi found his eye twitching again as he looked around the interior of Sasuke's apartment. The room was quite dim due to the windows being covered by black curtains, with scattered candles providing light. The walls had strange symbols written on them in chalk and a glowing pattern that reminded Kakashi of some kind of Fuinjutsu seal was drawn on the floor. To the side there was what looked like a small apothecary table set up with some sort of chemistry set sitting atop it, and a large bookshelf dominated one of the walls, filled with tomes and scrolls with titles written in various languages, most of which Kakashi himself didn't recognize.

"Kakashi-sensei," said Sasuke from behind him, and the Jonin's Kage Bunshin most certainly did NOT jump in surprise before turning around to greet the young Uchiha, seeing him dressed in black robes with more strange symbols drawn on it, "What brings you to my humble abode?"

"I was just in the neighborhood," said Kakashi, "thought I'd visit one of my cute little students. I must say though, you have an interesting taste in décor."

"It serves my purposes," said Sasuke as he took a book off one of the shelves and flipped through the pages, "my workshop has what is needed for my studies of the arcane."

Walking over to the chemistry set, Sasuke placed the book down on the table and began grinding some roots and herbs with a mortar and pestle, causing his sensei to quirk his brow, as he recognized them from the standard handbook on wilderness plants. The herbs could be found in Training Ground 44 and were actually quite poisonous, and the root was a common ingredient in pain medicine and was mainly found in the Nara Clan Forest, raising the question as to how the young Uchiha obtained said plants and what he intended to do with them.

"What are you doing over there?" asked Kakashi as he glanced over at his student.

"I'm creating a catalyst," said Sasuke as he finished grinding and began to pour the mixture into a glass container and pick up several vials, "some of the more powerful spells I perform require a catalytic agent to focus my power through."

"Spells like what you used in the test?" asked Kakashi.

"Somewhat," said Sasuke, "I focused on rune artes during the Genin exam as they are easy to perform and require little to no prep time before casting. These potions will expand my arsenal, though they take time to prepare, which is why I am crafting them now."

Kakashi watched as the young Uchiha mixed the liquids from the vials in a precise order, pouring them into a prepared beaker, before adding the crushed herbs and roots to the mixture, causing it to change colors, gradually making its way through the spectrum as Sasuke picked the beaker and placing it over a small flame.

"One needs to be careful though," Sasuke said as he watched the beaker carefully, "some of these can be a bit volatile if not brewed correctly, leading to rather…unpleasant results."

"Wait, what?" exclaimed Kakashi, snapping his head back around to gape at his student from behind his mask.

"Indeed," said Sasuke as he added a powder to the liquid, causing it to froth, "if not handled just so, it could have rather…explosive results."

"…I see," said Kakashi as he warily glanced at the bubbling chemical.

"Do not worry," said Sasuke as he picked up several small vials and began to fill them with the potion he had finished, "I know what I am doing."

"So, what led you to study all of…this?" asked Kakashi as he glanced around at the room, they were in, "I mean, this isn't exactly a typical field for a Shinobi."

"When did I ever say I was a Shinobi?" asked Sasuke, "Magic is everything. It flows in and around us, defining the universe and permeating all life. Why wouldn't I wish to study this primal force and learn more about it? Understanding it is the first step to understanding the universe itself."

"I see," said Kakashi. He was honestly a bit taken aback at this response. From what he'd seen in Sasuke's Academy profile, the boy was cold and closed off, driven to be the best for the sole purpose of avenging his clan, pushing away any potential friends in the process. Nothing like this studious scholarly teen that worked with strange forces that he would be hard pressed to replicate with any Jutsu he knew. How the young Uchiha knew about and could harness these so-called primal forces was anyone's guess.

"Well," said Kakashi, "I must be off. Lots to do, people to see."

"Understandable," said Sasuke without turning around, "and Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes?" asked Kakashi as he paused.

"Next time, come in person instead of sending a Kage Bunshin," said Sasuke as he snapped his fingers, causing said Kage Bunshin to forcibly dispel.

xXsceneXx

Kakashi pinched the bridge as he finished reviewing the memories of his Kage Bunshin. Once again, he was left with more questions than answers. It seemed to be becoming a theme with his new Team. He almost dreaded to find out what his other Kage Bunshin had found during its investigation of the third member of his Genin Team, the so-called ESPer in training.

Almost as if the universe itself was laughing at him, at that very moment, the memories of his Kage Bunshin came rushing back to him…and there's that twitch in his good eye, just as strong as before.

xXsceneXx

Unlike with Naruto and Sasuke, Sakura's family was alive and well and thus the teen in question was living in an apartment with them nearby the market district. Arriving at the house, Kakashi knocked on the door and was greeted by Sakura's mother, Mebuki.

"You must be Kakashi," said Mebuki, "Sakura has told us much about you, and that you'd probably be stopping by. Do come in."

"Is that so?" said Kakashi as he followed the Haruno matriarch inside.

"Indeed," said Mebuki, "she always seems to know these things. Must be part of being such a skilled ESPer."

"Ah," said Kakashi warily, "so you know about that? About her being an ESPer?"

"Of course," said Mebuki, "all the women in my family have the gift, though my daughter's is particularly strong."

"…really now?" said Kakashi in a forced calm voice, the twitch returning to his eye yet again.

"Oh yes," said Mebuki, "she's progressed with her power further than anyone I've ever seen for someone her age."

"I see," said Kakashi, "where is she now?"

"Probably off training," said Mebuki, "Sakura is always wanting to push her powers to the next level and beyond so she's always off training and studying. I used to worry about her social life, but she recently befriended one of the Jonin that hangs around the area she uses to train."

"Really now?" said Kakashi, sensing a possible source of more information, "Which Jonin was it? I might know him or her."

"I don't recall her name," said Mebuki, "but I do recall that she had purple hair."

'Hmm,' thought Kakashi, 'that does narrow it down a bit. It could be Yūgao, in fact, it would be preferable. We have a good enough rapport that she'd be easily convinced to share what she's learned about my student.'

"Of course," said Sakura's voice from behind him, causing the Jonin to stiffen, as he hadn't sensed her approach, "things can't always be so easy. As you should well know, Kakashi-sensei."

"Ah," said Kakashi stiffly, "Sakura, we were just talking about you."

"Yes, I know," said Sakura, "about how I befriended one of Konoha's Jonin while training? And you were wondering if you could use that to gather information about me?"

"Ah," said Kakashi again, "I assume your powers also include mind reading then?"

"Not precisely," shrugged Sakura, "though it was easy to infer upon your thought process. Especially after what Mitarashi-san has told me about you."

"Oh, is that so?" said Kakashi as his eye twitched violently, before freezing as the last bit of what she said caught up to him, "wait, did you say Mitarashi…"

"Oi Kakashi," said a boisterous voice from behind the scarred Jonin, causing the man to twitch as he recognized the owner, "your Genin here is a real riot."

"Anko," said Kakashi as he turned around to face the Tokubetsu Jonin, "so you know Haruno-san?"

"This gaki?" asked Anko with a laugh, "We met back at my favorite training ground. Not exactly sure how she got in, but anyone who can take out a giant centipede by tying its body into a knot is alright in my book."

"Is that so?" said Kakashi uneasily, "Wait, don't you normally train in Training Ground 44?"

"Yeah," said Anko with a shrug, "what of it?"

Kakashi's eye twitched again before he got it under control, "…how did she get in?"

"It wasn't that hard," said Sakura, "the gates only circle around the forest, leaving the overhead clear for entry. Besides, I needed a place to practice my powers, and Training Ground 44 was…adequate."

Kakashi's eye twitched one final time and he gave a strained eye smile, "Well, it was nice talking. I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, the Kage Bunshin headed out and dispelled once it was a good distance away.

xXsceneXx

"Ugh," groaned Kakashi once the memories passed, "you know what? That's it! I'm done. I need a drink."

And with that, the legendary Copy-nin headed off to the nearest bar to get hammered, wanting to forget what a handful his new team was shaping out to become.

And that's chapter 2. We'll get more into team dynamics and missions next time, but I wanted to answer a question posed by a reviewer: Who am I basing Team 7's new powers off of?

Naruto is the easiest, being based loosely on Bushido values and depictions of the Samurai, though I am mixing in some bits from various anime swordsmen, including some from One Piece.

Sasuke is a mage, who's magic style is based on the various Arcanum from Dragon Prince with the catalyst thing being borrowed from Negima's Evangeline.

Sakura is an ESPer, who's powers are based on Fubuki and Tatsumaki from One Punch man, with some minor mind reading as well.

In any case, please let me know what you think, and remember that flames will not be tolerated and an excess of such will lead to me leaving this site and posting solely on AO3.

Ciao.