Pull Me in Gently

Chapter 4

"Wow, this practice competition is actually pretty serious, yeah."

"No kidding, good thing we are going to beat Sasori and Izumi in the Samba." Keiko leaned over Deidara and stuck her tongue out at Izumi.

The group of four were sitting on the stands overlooking the dance floor. They were early to watch Itachi perform. They were to compete an hour after that. Izumi was wearing a yellow dress that had a skirt that flared out when she spun. Sasori was wearing black pants with a black shirt and a yellow tie. They definitely stood out. Keiko had decided to go for a bright orange sweater with a navy blue, ruffled skirt. Deidara was wearing bright orange pants and a white shirt. They stood out as well.

"We'll see about that. I think you will lose just because you're wearing those stupid pants." Sasori countered and Izumi giggled at the frown on Deidara's face. It was all in good fun. They were all in dance for the heck of it and not the need to be the best they could.

"Those competing in the Rumba please step onto the floor."

The four of them cheered as Itachi emerged from backstage with Megumi's hand in his. They looked perfect in their red and black and they took a spot in one of the corners. It was the perfect position to be seen by the judges but also have the right amount of space to dance the way they wanted. No one would interfere with them there.

The music started and Izumi clasped her hands in front of her chest. She was extremely nervous. It had only been a week that she helped him dance but she felt incredibly connected to him. She knew he could perform well but he needed to relax and breathe or he would slip back into being stiff. Sasori looked to his left and noticed Izumi was nervous.

"They've got this. You tutored him well and we saw them last night. If they do what they did yesterday they will be perfectly all right."

"You're right. There's no need to be nervous."

The music started and Izumi could have laughed. It was Itachi's favorite Rumba song. He moved slowly to Megumi and began to dance. The group of four kept their gazes locked on Itachi and Megumi's forms. They had the perfect connection and moved flawlessly. When they finished Izumi stood and cheered. They had definitely moved on. She could feel it.

They only waited for fifteen minutes before the next group of Rumba dancers came out. This was the quarter final round. Itachi and Megumi once again danced flawlessly. They made it to the semi finals and the finals. Izumi clenched Keiko's hand over Deidara and held her breath as they announced the winners of the Rumba.

"Our first place winners in the Rumba are Itachi Uchiha and Megumi Otto." Izumi squealed and the four of them cheered loudly. Izumi was so proud that Itachi won that it didn't matter if she won or not. Seeing his happy expression as he hugged Megumi was enough for her.

"Man, that's awesome for them. Good job Izumi. We should probably head down to the backstage area now." Izumi nodded at Sasori and they made their way down the stands to the waiting area. They were the next dance group to go.

After all four rounds of competition it ended up that Izumi and Sasori won and that Deidara and Keiko took second. They hugged each other and agreed that to celebrate they would go out to eat.

"Okay, guys, I'll meet you outside in a few minutes. I'm gonna find Itachi and congratulate him."

"Don't be too long Iz, we don't want everyone to fill up where we're going."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be quick. Promise." Izumi turned around and made her way through the crowd. She saw Itachi from the dance floor and hoped that he was still in the same direction. After a few minutes of searching someone pulled her arm and she was yanked out of the crowd. Right in front of her was the smiling face of Itachi.

"Congrats on winning!" Izumi instantly flung her arms around him and he squeezed her tightly.

"You too! I've never seen you do the Samba before. That was amazing."

Izumi beamed and pulled away from Itachi. "So what do you have going on now?"

"Actually, Megumi asked me to go on a date with her afterwards to celebrate. We're going out for ice cream and then dancing. In fact, I've gotta go."

"Oh, okay, have fun!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth Itachi was gone. Her smile fell and she made her way out of the room and down the stairs to where everyone was waiting for her. Itachi and her both won and he had gotten a date with Megumi. That was what she wanted. Right?

The next week Izumi postponed their tutoring sessions. She had midterms in all of her classes and several papers due. She told Itachi it was also because he had done so well in the competition that she decided they needed a little break. Izumi really was busy. Her dance class had also finished the Rumba and was now working on the Paso Doble. Surprise, surprise, Keiko was ripping it up in the Paso and Izumi not so much.

It was now another Monday and Izumi was back at the Uchiha mansion. "Good evening Miss Izumi. How has your last week been?"

"Pretty good Frank. I had lots of school things going on but I managed to survive them all. How have you been?"

Frank thought about it for a few moments with his hand under his chin. "Pretty good. There was a party for the Uchiha corporation this last week that was quite crazy. Also, Master Itachi's girlfriend has been over all week as well. It was quite a change."

Izumi ignored the weird feeling in her stomach. "I bet it was. One again, thank you for your wonderful company." Frank laughed and turned around to head back down the hallway as Izumi entered the ballroom where Megumi and Itachi were running through what looked like the beginning steps of the Samba.

She took a deep breath. "Hey guys! Miss me?"

"Izumi! How have you been?" Megumi excitedly greeted her and Itachi smiled in her direction.

"Pretty good. Glad I'm still alive after last week. So, Samba now eh? Let's see it."

Izumi pressed play on the music and Itachi stumbled through the Samba with Megumi. Izumi snorted. "Okay, let's try without music." They started dancing again and this time it was near perfect. Apparently the music was too much for Itachi. He was concentrating too hard again.

"All right, Itachi. You need to relax again. We'll do the same exercise we did for the Rumba only you'll do it with Megumi."

Itachi nodded as Izumi explained it to Megumi. She nodded as well and then the two of them began to talk as well as they could as they danced. Their steps faltered a few times and more than once they stopped speaking all together.

"Again."

Izumi made them start over and over again. It was like they weren't even trying. What was the deal? They were dating now so it should have been more comfortable but there was still something holding them back from relaxing.

"Okay guys, what's up? You look beyond high strung. Take a few deep breaths and then start again. Pretend I'm not even here. Okay? I'll put on some light music. Don't worry about following it if you can't."

With that Izumi sat down and watched them from a distance. She could hear their whispered words to each other.

"So, does Friday work for you for going to the museum for the grand opening party?"

"Of course! What's the dress?"

"Semi formal. I'll pick you up at around seven."

"Perfect."

Izumi's gut twisted and she justified it as just being hungry. Her phone chimed and she looked to see that she had a text message from Keiko.

From: Kei!

Girl, Obito just texted me this video. Apparently there was someone watching you rehearse last week. Is it steamy in here or is that just me?

Izumi furrowed her brows as she pulled up the video in question. It was of her and Itachi dancing the Rumba the day before she watched him and Megumi do it. Izumi couldn't take her eyes off of the screen. They were flawless and impossibly close and the connection was ridiculous. Her cheeks started to burn and there was a weird feeling in her stomach that was slowly crawling up her spine and down her legs. Every nerve in her body felt electrified.

"Izumi, how was that?"

Izumi quickly saved the video and made her way over to the couple dancing. "It was a lot better. You were much more relaxed. But, sadly, it's time for dinner."

She turned on her heel and practically ran to the dining room. She took the last seat on the right of the table. She knew that Megumi had taken over her seat. Not that she minded. It just happened. Naruto sat diagonally from her at the foot of the table. Next to him was Sakura and then Sasuke and Mikoto and Fugaku in their normal spots. Itachi entered the dining room holding Megumi's hand. Mikoto's lip twitched and Izumi pretended she didn't see it.

Dinner was normal for the most part except that Naruto kept shooting her foxy grins every five minutes. Something was up with him and she figured she knew exactly what. "Say, Naruto." He looked up from his plate to her. Instantly he smiled.

"Yeah, what's up Iz?"

"I was sent a rather interesting video today from my best friend. She said she got it from Obito. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that now would you?" Izumi smiled sweetly at him. Naruto's smile grew impossibly large. She knew it! Everyone else around the table watched the interaction with interest.

"Of course not. Like I would ever intrude on such an intimate moment." Izumi's face flushed so fiercely she could feel it in her ears as she gripped her spoon a little too tightly. Naruto laughed outright and Mikoto smirked. Well this was certainly interesting.

"What video is this?" Itachi asked as he continued eating.

"It was just a video of me ballroom dancing with someone."

"Ooh! Was it Itachi? Can I see? Can I? " Mikoto squealed and clasped her hands in front of her as she bounced up and down like a child.

"Um. . . yeah." Izumi slid her phone across the table. The video was already pulled up. Mikoto pressed play as everyone else crowded around her to watch. Izumi tried to eat her meal normally. The music started up and she could hear her voice coming over the video as she explained for Itachi to start whenever he was comfortable.

Izumi watched the expressions of everyone around her while still trying to act as normal as possible. But the air in the room seemed to increase in temperature every second. Mikoto and Sakura smiled and cooed like love struck idiots. Naruto had his foxy grin on his face and Sasuke and Fugaku looked shocked at what they were seeing. Megumi was stony faced and Itachi's face colored more and more as the video progressed.

The video soon ended and everyone took their seats around the table. Mikoto slid Izumi her phone back and took to happily eating her food. "My, that was a very energetic video. There was so much passion. No wonder you both won the dance competition."

"Thank you Mrs. Uchiha. That is very kind."

"You see what I mean by intimate moment now?" Naruto asked Mikoto and she nodded enthusiastically.

"Hey Izumi, do you think that maybe you could give me some Rumba lessons?" Sakura asked excited. Izumi thought it over and it seemed harmless enough.

"Yeah, of course. Are you going to bring your own partner or am I going to need to find one for you?" Izumi watched a muscle twitch in Sasuke's jaw. They had only started dating around Christmastime but she had noticed in their short interactions that he was probably lacking any sort of romantic bone in his body. "I'm sure Deidara would love to help."

"I'll do it." Sasuke clenched his hand and Sakura and Mikoto squealed in unison. Izumi smirked at Sasuke's reaction. She knew exactly what to say to get him riled up. She figured anyone related to Itachi would not want someone they cared about too close to someone as crazy as Deidara. But she wasn't so sure she could take anymore of Sakura and Mikoto squealing while she was still trying to hold down her embarrassment. She stood up at the table and everyone turned to look at her. She lightly bowed down.

"If you'll excuse me I have some things I need to take care of. I'll see you all tomorrow." With that she bounded out the door without even a word to Frank and raced to her apartment.

There was a note on the counter that said that Deidara had kidnapped Keiko to help him and Hidan with their English papers so she would be back very late. That suited Izumi just fine. She curled up in her bed and pulled out her phone. She watched her dance with Itachi at least five times before she fell asleep.

Okay, so maybe she was a little bit in love with him.