In the Magic of the Mountains
By: Hayley Ryan
Prolouge
Her head was leaning up against the cold glass of the car window. She stared as they passed other vehicles, each time a quick woosh being heard. Snow was falling lightly all around them. The radio was on but the songs seemed to go by silently to the two young occupants of the sleek modern machine.
He looked over at her with sad loving eyes. She is so beautiful. he thought and then let out a long sigh. His black hair fell into his dark eyes. A gentle and pale hand reached out and tucked it behind his ear slowly letting a few stands glide through her long french acrylic nails.
They were on thier way to his brothers cabin in the Sierra Mountains. He had not seen his elder brother in more than a twelve years. They had been tracking him for the last four. She was the one to discover his location. Never had either of them thought he would turn up in the United States, let alone Northern California.
She looked down at her the map on her iPhone. "Take this exit." He turned off of Interstate 80 onto an old street. "Left or right?" he asked her. "Right" she replied. Soon they began driving up a steep and cracked road full of potholes.
After about twenty minutes they turned into a driveway. The driveway was long and it took them a good ten miles further into the dense forest. Finally they arrived at a large modern looking log cabin about three stories high.
A big white dog that seemed to almost blend into the light layer of snow that lay on the ground came bounding tworards them barking and wagging its tail happily. He put the car in park and killed the engine. He got out of the car and walked to the passengers side to open the door for the blond girl behind it. As he shut it after her the front door opened spilling yellow light over them.
"Shiro! What are you barki-" a small voice that escaped a tiny girl began to demand but was stopped when she saw the two people standing outside her house. "Daddy" she called back into the house.
A man appeared behind her and lifted her onto his shoulders before looking out the door. "What is it princess?" She pointed at the couple. He stepped out onto his porch and looked down at the young man standing a mere ten feet below him. He silently slid the child back to the ground "Go inside princess." She nodded and retreated back into the cabin shutting the door behind her.
The men stared at each other for a few moments. The girl began to shiver from the cold, her companion broke the stare to look at her, he encircled her waist with his arm and pulled her closer. Then turned back to the man he once called brother.
"Well Itachi, are you going to invite us in?"
The man looked at them with a tortured expression. "Sasuke?"