Itachi didn't know what was going on and was very silent. Externally, he was calm but his mind was still trying to process his latest murder attempt and the sparkly supernatural magic show. The CEO wondered how he was actually still alive when a portal opened in front of him. His younger brother was carrying a pale looking old lady and Itachi had more questions than answers at the moment. Still, he held his questions back because Sasuke was busy.
"Where's Gaara?" he asked the Bunny Lady and Mei shook her head.
"He went ahead to check on Danzo. Where's Kankuro? He was meant to meet up with you and Naruto..." Mei frowned.
Beside her, Temari readied her gigantic fan. If Kankuro didn't meet up with Naruto, that only meant he was taking out unseen enemies along the way.
"I need to speak to Gaara," Sasuke told Mei and Temari stepped up.
"I'm Gaara's sister. You can talk to me. Also, leave the witch with Lady Luck."
Sasuke looked unsure as he recalled Kakashi's words. "I don't know about that... Kakashi told me to find Gaara specifically..."
The blond lady rolled her eyes and excused herself, passing the nearly unconscious Tsunade over to Mei before she dragged Sasuke away forcefully. The younger Uchiha was surprised that he couldn't escape her strong grip.
Once the duo was outside of Itachi's hearing range, Temari pointed her fan at Sasuke. "Gaara is on his way to help Kurama. Whatever message Kakashi has can come to me. Also, why would you be meeting up with Kakashi anyway? Why isn't Kankuro with you? Also, where is that snake mage?"
Sasuke smiled proudly. "Burnt to a crisp. Tsunade's trap worked and the other three goons weren't too difficult to take care of."
"Trap?" Temari was confused. "Where did you battle the mage?"
"The batting cage?" Sasuke answered and the blond sighed. Kankuro was probably still figuring out where the battle was taking place since Kurama informed them there were several possible locations. The batting cage was the last on Kankuro's list.
"My bad. He's probably still making circles trying to locate you and Naruto. Where is the main battle taking place? Where's Naruto? Why isn't he with you and why is Kakashi fighting Danzo with Kurama? Wasn't he meant to take down someone else with Tsunade?"
Sasuke shook his head. "There were complications. Kurama's hit by something and gone but not dead while Naruto has transformed into a massive ten-tailed fox. Kakashi is trying to keep the damage to a minimum and says that Gaara has to come quickly."
Temari paled. "Did you not miscount it? Ten tails, you say?"
Sasuke nodded. The blond warrior glanced back to the Lady Bunny and CEO. "Thank you for trusting me with this. I will inform Gaara about it right away but I need to escort everyone to the den first. It's still not safe and your witch looks like she just barely escaped death. How fast can you run?"
The fox's mate grinned. "Pretty fast. At least faster than normal humans now..."
"Good," Temari nodded. "I'm leaving Itachi in your care. I'll take Iruka and Mei can carry Tsunade. Everyone else should be at the den now."
Sasuke agreed on the arrangement and the humans didn't protest as they climbed onto the demons' backs.
>>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<<
Iruka didn't behave like a burden who needed to be protected and Itachi felt out of place in the den. The teacher served tea, helped set up traps and kept himself busy while the CEO took a shower to change out of his wet suit. Sasuke was practising tossing knives and Temari left for some urgent errand. Two of the wolves had left to find the person called Kankuro and nobody said anything about Kurama.
Itachi was worried sick but there wasn't much he could do as he looked into the mirror's reflection. His hair had been hacked and it looked awful right now, serving a reminder of his near-death experience.
There was a knock on the bathroom door. "Itachi, are you ok?" Ino asked.
The CEO quickly dressed and told her he would be out in five minutes. The student nodded and told him that she would help trim his hair a little when he finished. The CEO didn't allow himself time to think about negative thoughts. Kurama was strong, nothing would happen to him... right?
>>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<<
As he was chained away and captured by the shinigami, Kurama felt his consciousness getting clearer in the icy depths of hell. The poison lost all its effect as his soul separated from his physical body. His memories were getting fuzzier but Kurama stubbornly held onto the image of Itachi in his suit at his office desk pouring through documents and sipping on coffee looking very focused. It was a sight that became familiar lately and strangely comforting as if it was their norm.
As they went deeper into hell, Kurama felt a soul-chilling cold invade his senses, numbing everything else. Sleep was very heavy in his mind but the fox demon knew better than to give in to the temptation. He knew what the shinigami wanted but Kurama couldn't leave the world of the living just yet. he had unfinished business. Danzo was still out there somewhere and he still had a future mate to protect.
As Kurama battled with the darkness, Itachi shivered. The fear growing inside of him made him visibly sick, worrying Ino. Iruka saw the distress and decided to step in.
"What's wrong?" he asked the CEO as Itachi choked back another dry sob.
"Co-cold... so cold, so dark so empty... I can feel it. Whatever Kurama is going through right now, I feel it... he's scared."
When Ino heard this she had to cover her mouth with a hand to not make any noise. She knew exactly what was going on. However, she never really experienced it with Sai because Sai wasn't very emotionally expressive.
"Itachi, can you tell us anything more?" she asked urgently. From Sasuke and Temari's conversation earlier, Kurama was in some sort of trouble. They don't exactly know where the Hunter was but if Itachi could hold onto the soul bond connection he had with Kurama, they might have a chance.
Itachi felt a tear fell from his eyes but he couldn't stop it. "He's slowly losing it..."
Ino grasped Itachi's trembling hands in hers. "Don't let him give in to it! Your soul bond with him is strong, use it to encourage him to fight. tell him to come back to us, to come back to you."
Itachi didn't know what Ino was talking about but he desperately wanted to help the Hunter. That resolution became that thin thread of hope that Kurama needed to hold onto sanity. The CEO's constant reaffirmation and steady presence kept the fox demon together mentally.
The shinigami was displeased but there was nothing much he could do about a soul that hasn't been separated from its body yet. On the other hand, it glanced at the other departed soul he harvested.
Danzo screamed in horror as the shinigami dissected his soul to rip out his karma and memories.