Binas: Welcome to chapter two. Hopefully my attention span can stay where it needs to be… Also I recommend listening to Blondie's "One Way or Another" while reading this chapter. Yes, that song goes along with a good chunk of this chapter. Please excuse the shortness, I ran into the perfect cliffhanger sooner than I liked...
Reviews:
Not-Gonna-Update, NarutoSpardaUzumaki, and Ki guy (guest): Thanks, honestly, I was not expecting it to blow up this quickly. I guess you get an instant win when you mix outlandish concepts, Castiel, and the entire Naruto Universe.
Interviner: Once again, thank you. And here is your wish, my fellow fan. :)
Pony1997: I know. It is a pain to find a story that is both good and stars Cass. Many of which are just... Cringe worthy. One of the few good ones is basically Castiel trying to cook eggs and failing miserably until he brings in some no-traditional help.
Once again, special thanks to my beta/Supernatural Character Reference Person MsMJ and my Naruto Character Reference Person 15Stepsdown.
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Blurred figures danced around Shikamaru's vision as he returned to the waking realm. Voices surrounded his ears, making his head hurt slightly from trying to sort out the nonsense of the distortion. Once the blurriness and distortion subsided, he was finally able to make out what was being said; "Come on! Wake up, Shikamaru!" Naruto, obviously. Not very surprising as he was one of the figures, Sakura being the other one.
Within the first few seconds of waking, he felt alright. That was until what had happened slammed right into his attention, causing him to bolt upright with heavy breaths.
"Whoa, Shikamaru!" Naruto shouted as he jumped back to prevent being hit by accident. "Be careful!"
"Sorry." Shikamaru said. "Is Asuma-sensei okay?"
"Yes, we just saw him a few seconds ago." Sakura said, allowing Shikamaru to sigh in relief. "He is the reason why we came in here. We want to know what happened out there on your mission."
"Yeah," Naruto butted in. "We think it might help us understand the mission we were sent on."
Shikamaru cracked his neck a bit, getting rid of the stiffness that was present. With that, he got into a slightly more comfortable position which in reality was leaning against the head post of the bed while still covered by the linen cloth.
"Alright." Shikamaru said. "But I warn you, even I am having a hard time making sense of it."
With the warning clear to both of Shikamaru's listeners, he began recapping everything that had transpired in his cell's fight against Hidan and Kakuzu right down to the most important variables like Hidan's immortality and cursed jutsu and Kakuzu's ability to stitch up others with black, tendon-esque threads. When Naruto pointed out how weird that was, Shikamaru only told him that it got even weirder. That brought in the entry of Team Seven's once nameless miracle man, who was as unkillable as Hidan, Castiel ("What kind of a name is that?!" Once again, Naruto) and how he revived Asuma and knocked out Hidan with only a tap to the forehead before causing Kakuzu to retreat with the immortal man-child in tow.
"Wow, you have to gotta be kidding me!" Naruto said. "This guy is just impossible! No one can take down the Akatsuki that easily! No one!"
"You're right." Sakura said. "Even I had trouble when I fought Sasori, and that was with Chiyo's help. It just doesn't make any sense."
"I told you it was really hard to make sense of." Shikamaru said. "For now, it is best if we see what the Hokage says and then take whatever action is needed from there."
"Okay then!" Naruto piped up. "Let's go!"
With that, Naruto raced out of the room, leaving Sakura and Shikamaru behind. Shikamaru just stared at the door with an unamused look on his face while Sakura simply face palmed.
'Does he really expect me to go to the Hokage in just a hospital gown,' Shikamaru thought, 'Much less the fact that Izumo and Kotetsu by now would have already visited Tsunade? What a drag…'
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Tsunade read through the report given by Izumo and was baffled by the implications just written all over it. And this just wasn't from the fact bringing back the dead and taking a vessel sounded way too much like her former teammate, Orochimaru. It was from the combination of everything else. It was as if she were reading a very poor attempt at a fake report that was written by Jiraiya (her other teammate) while under the influence of sake!
"I have no words to describe how childish this report sounds! I'd expect this kind of joke from Kotetsu, not you Izumo!" Tsunade snapped as she slammed her fist on the desk, "What really happened?!"
"Lady Tsunade, I was not kidding at all!" Izumo said, frightened by the fury behind the Fifth's pupils. "It all really happened!"
Tsunade's fiery eyes did not diminish at all from the words that poured out of Izumo's mouth. The air hung tensely over them, making it hard for Izumo to breathe a relieving sigh. Beads of sweat glistened his forehead, making it very obvious that he was scared of the wrath that was likely to befall on him.
"Do I have to remind you why you shouldn't make me frustrated?" Tsunade said darkly.
"No! No you don't! Please!" Izumo frantically said with panic lacing every single word. "If you don't believe me, you can always have a Yamanaka look through my memories!"
"Very well then…" Tsunade said. "If this little story of yours proves to be false in any way possible, I will be sure that the punishment you receive will teach you not to make up such ridiculous stories ever again."
Izumo nodded rapidly as Tsunade sent Shizune off to locate Inoichi Yamanaka. While Izumo now had the chance to prove the truth of what he saw, he knew he was far from out of the woods.
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A little while later…
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Tsunade asked, subtlety reminding what she had warned Izumo of earlier.
Izumo let a long breath out, still very nervous. He gave a nod to Tsunade.
"Very well, Inoichi, you can begin."
With the go ahead, Inoichi pressed his palm against Izumo's forehead. He closed his eyes and began searching the mind of Izumo, looking for the moments he described in the report. When he found it, he watched it very closely, analyzing everything that he could ranging from the man's mannerisms down to the fact he lacked a chakra signature. When he was done, Inoichi removed his palm and looked at Tsunade.
"There is no mistaking it, the report was not made up." Inoichi stated. "There was indeed a person named Castiel and all mentioned abilities were displayed perfectly in Izumo's memories."
Those words sent shock-waves through Tsunade. This had become a serious matter, regardless of the good Castiel had done. Not only that, there was no time to gather the perfect team for what would hopefully allow the chance for a successful capture mission. There were way too few choices in action that could work and a majority could lead to disaster without any doubt. Even the Legendary Sucker, Tsunade, could place a bet on that and win. It was a very sad fact.
"Inoichi, gather your former teammates." Tsunade ordered sternly, "I want you to track down this Castiel and interrogate him. Find out if he is a threat towards the safety of everyone. If he is, do not engage in battle against him unless it is absolutely mandatory for your team's safe return. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
"Good."
With that, Inoichi left with a chakra enhanced leap. Izumo gulped, realizing how grave the situation was now. At least he was no longer risked facing the brunt of Tsunade's rage, and that was something that he was very glad about.
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Five days later…
Bandits, no matter the universe, were just pitiful. They had a very bad habit of succumbing to the one who they try to mug without realizing the major power differences. The bandit that had tried and absolutely failed to mug Castiel was a brunette with the typical complexion you would see in someone who had lived in rocky, mountainous terrain high up above sea level. A good estimate would be about 2,500 meters to 3,100 meters.
No, Castiel did not kill the man. In fact, killing, specifically humans, left very sour thoughts after everything he had done. This included trying to take his Father's place, unleashing a bunch of Leviathans from Purgatory, causing many people to be eaten by them via becoming livestock, killing hundreds of Dean clones in a simulation created by Naomi, and being controlled like a puppet by Naomi. So what did he do to leave the man sprawled all over the ground? He knocked him out. It was about all that he could do without making himself sick on a spiritual level.
Just as he was about to put the sleeping bandit somewhere where he wouldn't be harmed so easily, he heard a faint rustle of branches and leaves being disturbed by something with the mass of healthy humans. He looked up, examining for signs of someone spying on him from the tree tops. From what Castiel encountered so far (this includes thoughts that he could hear from pretty much anyone he tuned into), there were a lot of "attack first, ask questions later" people roaming this planet and even running the governments that were established. This had a chance of spelling bad news, even more so if his luck ran out and he got discovered by demons like Crowley or angels like Naomi. How? Humans have and always will be very social creatures; gossiping anything that they see or hear and in rare cases, touch.
Just as Castiel took a few steps back, two men attempted and succeeded jumping him. One of which was using a twig and the other clay insects that blew up. Castiel was sent backwards a bit with very little sustained damage. And scrapes and burns that had a chance to occur had healed within milliseconds. Castiel looked up and saw his attackers: a black haired man wearing a ridiculous swirling orange mask and a man with very long blonde hair who looked way too smug and proud for his own good. However, there was one unsettling thing about them, they both wore the same cloaks as Kakuzu and Hidan.
"Way to go, Deidara!" the black haired man clapped. "That was awesome!"
"Tobi, that was nothing, un." The blonde man, Deidara replied with a predatory grin, "Looks like we found the man that Hidan described."
Castiel glared at the duo. From what a quick mind read could gather, Deidara was a terrorist bomber who used to be a respectable artist in his hometown and now was feared and on a hit list for bombing his home. Tobi on the other hand was living behind so many masks, both literally and figuratively, it got pretty confusing very quickly.
"What do you two want?" Castiel asked.
"Hey, it's not our needs that need to be fulfilled!" Tobi piped up cheerfully to the point it would have been almost creepy to a casual listener. "It's our leader's! He wanted us to find you! Now that we have you, we can take you back! I mean this was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission, but hey, why not attempt to cap- GAK!"
Castiel had sent the cheerful Tobi a far distance away with one telekinetic throw. The stupidity that he just displayed was mind numbingly irritating. Deidara immediately got into a stance, both of his hands stuck inside his clay pouches. Once he removed them from there, he threw a barrage of explosive creatures that homed in on the seraph. Castiel managed to trick them into blowing up a tree via teleportation, which made Deidara slightly irritated, but not enough to lose his composure.
"I warn you, cease your attacks now." Castiel said with a pointed look.
"Don't tell me what to do, un." Deidara said, "I will stop making my art when I feel like it."
With that, another explosion went off, causing yet another crazed smile to grace Deidara's face. At this moment, Castiel could see the source of what sculpted the explosive sculptures: the mouths that were present on each palm, acting autonomously most of the time, occasionally flickering creepy smiles and frowns when their tongues weren't sticking out or chewing clay.
Before another round of explosives could be deployed, Castiel teleported right behind Deidara, startling him a bit; an effect that Castiel had on everyone due to not understanding the human concept known as personal space. Before Deidara could retaliate, he found himself unable to move. He could twitch and struggle, but he just could not remove the invisible force that prevented him from moving. It was as if someone had placed him in an invisible binding jutsu. But in this case, it was Castiel's telekinetic powers being used yet again.
"What the heck is this, un?!" Deidara yelled as he began checking for genjutsu via contracting his left eye. "This isn't a genjutsu at all!"
Castiel approached the blonde bomber, a slight bit of irritation present on his face. Deidara began to feel very uncomfortable as Castiel once again invaded his personal space. Albeit, he could not do anything while immobilized by the strong grip Castiel had over him.
"I said: cease your attacks." Castiel said in an even lower, gravelly voice.
The angel reached out his right hand and pressed his thumb against Deidara's forehead (moving his forehead protector up in the process). Deidara continued to struggle to get free just to find everything he did to be futile. He then screamed out in pain as Castiel then used his grace on him.
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A few miles away, the original Ino-Shika-Cho team perked up at the sound of screaming. With nothing to lose, they raced in that direction, hoping that some sign of their target was present there. Along the way, Shikaku spoke up.
"So what is the plan of action? How do we assure that he will talk instead of attack? We have to be armed at a moment's notice."
"I say we just play this out by ear since we have to be armed," Inoichi replied, "But let's just approach as calmly as possible. The more we seem tense, the more likely we will be drawn into a battle by him."
"Uh, guys, look." Choza pointed out, seeing something rather surprising up ahead.
"What?" Inoichi asked, catching a glimpse of what Choza saw.
With that, the three raced towards what Choza spotted. Once they got there, they saw a sight that was hardly believable. Even after witnessing something similar in Izumo's thoughts, it still caught Inoichi off a bit. It was another unconscious Akatsuki Member solely judging by the robes and the face of the man, Deidara, if the book was correct, was plastered in the Akatsuki section of the Bingo Book.
Inoichi cautiously approached the body of Deidara and began examining it. There was a slow heart beat and the steady breathing of someone who was in deep slumber. He then checked the body for injuries, hoping to confirm that this was the work of Castiel. In the end, the lack of a chakra signature (aside from the one emanating from the Akatsuki Member) confirmed it was indeed the work of the trench coated man.
"He is long gone now." Inoichi stated and began to lift up the unconscious body. "Let's take this man back to the village. If we are lucky, he will wake up and tell us everything he knows."
Agreeing with Inoichi, Shikaku and Choza left with the sleeping body.
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Hidan had woken up two days into the sealing process of the three tails and would not shut up about how he got his butt handed to him by "some nobody angel". Kakuzu had told him to shut up many times and "remind" him how angels weren't real and it was absurd how something like them could even exist. Hidan got pretty offended how the money loving Kakuzu once more failed to recognize such a divine messenger and threatened to sacrifice him. In the end, the threat obviously failed when Kakuzu swiped his scythe and chopped his head off. When Pein entered the picture, asking for information, all Hidan could pretty much tell him was that "the mother****er's got big ass wings and one hell of a knock out jutsu that requires no hand signs, and I'm gonna try to sacrifice him for what he did to me".
Tobi entered the Akatsuki Hideout, walking past a recently awakened Hidan. The albino Akatsuki Member glanced up from sharpening his scythe to look at the newbie, noticing something off about the normally cheerful, childish man.
"Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?" Hidan asked with a nasty smirk. "Did you mistake a skunk for a cat and get p*ssed on by it?"
Tobi said nothing as he continued walking. An air of doom and darkness surrounded him. No sign of cheerfulness was present. It was as if someone showed him one of the darkest things ever devised by an absolutely twisted mind and then was forced by the creator of said evil to live through it. It was then and there that Hidan, and everyone else in the area, realized that Tobi had died and Madara had taken his place.
