Winter's Fate

Chapter 2

Itachi held tightly onto the seat armrests as though his life depended on it, but showed few other signs of his stress as the plane shook violently. His first-class seat was comfortable enough for the first twelve hours of the plane ride, but then they hit turbulence. His back was ramrod straight and his knuckles had turned white, the cushioned armrests in his grip squeezed to the point he could feel the metal under all the padding. His muscles were tensed, his fingers hurt and he adamantly refused to look anywhere near the window even though the shade was closed. There was a slightly overweight, white-haired balding man in a tweed suit with a red bow tie in the seat in front of him with his seat reclined as far as it could go and for the life of him, Itachi couldn't understand how the old man could sleep. A loud snore would erupt from his throat every minute or so and he seemed totally fine with the fact that his life was in the cold metal talons of a few hundred ton piece of machinery. Itachi was perfectly fine with planes most days, he'd been riding them since before he'd officially moved to America at eleven and had made numerous trips between America and Japan like this one since then. Still, being thousands of feet in the air while a storm shook him and the flight attendants' nervous reassurances played on the loudspeaker every few minutes wasn't an ideal situation. On the bright side, he'd never had issues with motion sickness and while the movements of the plane made him feel ill, he'd yet to actually hurl.

He'd spent the last two hours in turbulence, which meant they should have landed an hour or more ago. His head was pounding as his mind raced through the various problems the turbulence could have caused and their less than desirable outcomes when the flight attendant announced that people should return trays and magazines to their respective holders and restore their seats to an upright position because they were going to begin their descent. Itachi didn't let out his bated breath when the old man was awoken by a blonde attendant and righted his seat, or when the woman asked if he was okay and he had to silently nod before she walked away, or even when his vision started to blur and he began to see spots. The gust of air only left him when he felt the wheels of the plane hit the pavement with the expected jerk. He sucked in air discreetly yet greedily as the captain announced a safe landing and the blonde flight attendant walked down the aisle one last time to check that everything was in place and everyone was okay. Itachi couldn't remember ever feeling more relieved in his life when he was allowed to exit the plane. He was about ready to kiss the ground and might have even done so if he didn't spot his best friend and personal driver, Shisui, waiting there in a black suit. The only thing making him stand out from all the other drivers crowding the waiting area was his Uchiha symbol belt buckle. His hands were shoved in his pockets and he gave a wide smile when he spotted his boss and oldest friend, Itachi.

Itachi adjusted his dark green long sleeve button-up Armani shirt which sat perfectly on his lean frame, showing off the toned muscles that covered his body. In every aspect, Itachi Uchiha was handsome. Tall with a charismatic personality that coincided perfectly with his good looks, leaving women of all ages and nationalities to swoon over him. Most outstanding were Itachi's kindness and humbleness, never thinking too much of himself, always respectful of his elders and generous with those close to him. Tightening the black hair tie loosely holding back his ebony locks that matched his dark eyes, he strolled up to his friend with a slight grin, years of being trained to contain and control all emotions preventing him from returning his friend's wide smile. He felt the need to ruffle the short crazy raven hair that sat untameable atop his friends head, old habits with his brother seeming to want to transfer to Shisui now that Sasuke was half a world away. Still, he couldn't remember ever being happier to see the man that had been like a big brother to him growing up. Shisui had the same pale skin and ebony hair and eyes as Itachi, but his face was more child-like despite the fact that they were the same age.

"Took you long enough." Shisui chuckled and gave Itachi a quick hug, clapping him on the back before he turned to lead the way through the airport towards the baggage claim.