Pull Me in Gently

Chapter Five

The last two weeks passed by in a blur. Izumi tried her best to put her all in to her studies and in to tutoring but she just wasn't giving it her best. When she was in her classes she would sit there and think about the fact that she was now in love with Itachi.

Honestly, she should have seen it coming. He was polite and smart and randomly funny. Not to mention incredibly attractive. She should have known from the start that this was going to be detrimental for her. She could still see Rin's smirking face in her head when she told her that she needed to give it a chance. That darn Rin. She knew exactly what she was doing to Izumi when she suggested tutoring Itachi.

When Izumi was dancing with Itachi she was concentrating so hard on keeping the perfect dance form and on acting as naturally as possible that she was sure he was catching on to something being off. No matter what she did he was always the forefront of her thoughts, complicating everything.

It also did not help that Megumi came to every practice. Currently she was giggling madly at something that Itachi was saying as they tried their best to Samba. Izumi rolled her eyes and changed the song. Not only were they annoyingly lovey dovey but they were terrible dancers today.

"Okay you two, let's try with this song. You're still stumbling a lot on the steps and I think mixing up the music every so often will help so that you don't get too comfortable."

Itachi nodded as he took Megumi's hand and led her into the beginning position of the dance. Izumi's eyes were fixed on the graceful and gentle movement of his hands as he held her. She took a deep breath and ignored the pang in her chest as she concentrated more on their form.

A small squeal caught Izumi's attention and she turned her head slightly to see Mikoto and Sakura coming toward her. They leaned against the small stage where she stood. Izumi wasn't bothered in the slightest by their presence. In fact she was surprised that they made it this long without stopping by.

"They look wonderful together!" Sakura gushed as she dreamily held her hands under chin bouncing in time to the music.

"They do look pretty good but I must say I've seen a different couple who looks even better." Mikoto looked over at Izumi and winked. Izumi instantly flushed and tried her best to ignore the comment by looking back at the dancing couple.

"Okay guys, you're looking pretty good but Itachi you're footwork is atrocious. You're thinking too much again. Megumi your head!"

Sakura leaned closer to Izumi after her instructions and tried to watch closely to see if she could tell the any difference between their steps. It was amazing that Izumi could spot things that needed work when to her it looked almost perfect.

"You really are amazing. I cannot wait until you give me and Sasuke lessons. I know he'll hate every minute of it but it just looks so romantic!"

Izumi giggled as Sakura practically swooned. In some ways Izumi envied her. She had the ability to be so carefree and openly in love with an Uchiha and was able to get excited about the little things like dancing together.

"I am sure that he'll have some fun. After all, he gets to dance with his girlfriend." Izumi nudged Sakura in the side as Mikoto continued to watch the dancing duo with a small smile on her face but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Okay, okay. Enough Rumba for now. If you do too much more I'm afraid you'll just get worse. Rumba!"

Izumi turned around and switched the song to something more appropriate and kept her gaze on the dance instruction booklet like she was trying to refresh the steps in her mind. When in actuality she was just refusing to look at the loving faces of two people in a very intimate dance. Especially when one of the people involved was the man she was harboring secret feelings for.

A comforting hand was placed on her back. She turned her head slightly to see Mikoto smiling at her. "Are you quite well dear?"

"Of course. Just a little tired with everything going on. There's just a lot of stuff at the same time."

It wasn't a complete lie. She really did have a lot of homework on top of the two dance classes that she was suddenly finding herself involved in.

"Why don't you end the dance session early today and the three of you can have a little study time before dinner?"

"That sounds like a great idea actually."

Mikoto reached over and stopped the music. Itachi instantly jerked his head forward to see what was going on. Izumi usually didn't stop a song in the middle unless she had some very specific critique. He was shocked to see his mother holding the iPod.

"That'll be all the dancing for today kids. I think it would be good for the three of you to take the next hour to just work on regular homework assignments. You can set up in the library." Mikoto smiled as she began walking to the door. "I'll let Frank know that you are relocating. Sakura, feel free to study with them I'll send Sasuke and Naruto along as well. Also, dinner is still at seven so don't be too late."

Mikoto smiled one more time at Izumi before she left the room completely. Izumi turned and grabbed her backpack off the floor. This was actually going to be really nice. She needed more time to study and having a group of people around her might actually make her try to focus on her work more than on Itachi.

Frank was waiting in the hall when Izumi stepped out of the ballroom. "Frank, my good sir. Could you possibly direct me to the library in this fine establishment?"

"But of course miss. I would be absolutely delighted."

Frank held out his arm and Izumi took it while laughing the whole time. The library was only a few doors down from the ballroom so the walk was short but Izumi was grateful that she was able to walk with Frank rather than the lovebirds.

"As always thank you for you excellent company."

"I assure you the pleasure is all mine."

Frank bowed and headed back down the hall as Izumi claimed a plush, maroon chair that overlooked the garden on the side of the house. There was a rather large desk in the middle of the library with eight chairs just like hers and she she shook her head at the opulence of it all. This house was seriously crazy. There was a thing as being too rich.

She pulled out several notebooks and textbooks from her backpack followed by her laptop. She was already planning out which things she wanted to work on when the door opened quietly. Itachi smiled at her and then opened the door wider for Megumi and Sakura, who were chatting animatedly, to come in.

"The Samba looks like so much fun but the Rumba. That is hot. Like you don't even do too much that would be considered sexy but there's just something so intimate and sexy about it."

"I know what you mean. It instantly became my favorite dance when I saw Sasori and Izumi dance it together. With that kind of connection it's amazing that they don't date."

Izumi tried her hardest to focus on the study guide loaded in front of her but Megumi's voice was ringing in her head.

"Sasori? You mean Itachi's friend with the puppets? They dance together?"

"Yeah, and it's hot. Super hot. I don't know why they don't date. Seriously."

Because I'm in love with your boyfriend. She clenched her pen tighter than she meant to and tried to focus on the words in front of her.

"I'm pretty sure no one wants to date a man obsessed with puppets. Can you imagine having those creepy things all over your house or while you're trying to be intimate?"

Izumi's head shot up at Itachi's voice and his eyes were locked on her hers. There was a smirk on his face the entire time he spoke. Izumi could feel one creeping up on her face as well.

"Well whatever. If you're not dating Sasori is there someone else that you are dating?" Megumi smiled sweetly at Izumi and she tried not to let her trepidation show. She hated being asked dating questions. She dated here and there occasionally but it had definitely been a while and her current crush was taken.

"Not at the moment but I'm just fine with that."

"Well if you want to I have several friends I could set you up with." Izumi noticed Itachi twitch minutely and she watched him for several seconds before answering.

"I'm fine for now but I do have a test to study for. Sorry." Izumi smiled bashfully as she put on her headphones and turned on some comforting music. It was loud enough that she couldn't here the rest of the conversations too well and she was good with that.

Naruto bounded into the room with Sasuke and took a seat next to Izumi at the table. He smiled and waved at her before turning and talking to Sakura. Izumi watched them for several minutes as Naruto became more and more animated and kept saying the name Hinata over and over. Sakura looked increasingly more annoyed until she finally punched him on the head and then the two of them burst into laughter.

Izumi felt a smile slip its way on to her face as she watched them interact. It was sweet and she couldn't help but be drawn to Naruto's bright attitude. She felt eyes on her and turned her head slightly to see Itachi gazing at her over his laptop as he typed. A message pinged on her own laptop and she saw that it was from Itachi.

Are you all right? You seemed a little down today. I know that my mom ended the tutoring today for studying. Did you need help with anything?

Izumi read the message a few times through and glanced over her laptop. Itachi was staring at her, willing her to reply instantly. She shook her head.

I'm fine. Just a little stressed. I don't need any help.

Scratch that. You any good with statistics?

Izumi looked up as he heard a chuckle from across her. She took off her headphones and frowned at Itachi. "Something funny?"

"Not in the slightest. What can I help with?"

Izumi pushed her textbook forward with the exercise that she was working on and her notebook with all her numbers scrawled across the paper in various formations. Itachi looked over everything before leaning forward and explaining it to her.

Izumi really was listening. But his hair was slightly brushing across her arm as he wrote on her paper and he spoke in a low voice that was almost a purr. It was hard for her to hear anything except the frantic beating of her own heart at the closeness of his proximity.

"Do you see now?" Itachi turned and looked at Izumi. She stared in his eyes for what felt like eternity before she was able to come up with something to say.

"Uh. . ." Yeah, real intelligent.

"Okay, I'll explain it again." He grabbed her arm and made sure that she was paying attention to the numbers on the page in front of him and Izumi listened intently. She soaked up every word he said and every number he wrote down. For just this moment she wanted to pretend that Itachi wasn't attached and that she could sit this close to him without there being any issues.

He finished his explanation soon and unfortunately leaned back to his computer so Izumi slid back into her chair. She hazarded a glance around the room. Naruto was smiling at her and moving his eyebrows up and down. She elbowed him in the side and he giggled. Sasuke had his own headphones in and Megumi was quizzing Sakura on some vocabulary words. No one beside Naruto had even noticed what had just transpired between Itachi and Izumi. She breathed a sigh of relief and pulled her headphones back on.

Izumi focused intensely on the assignment in front of her and the music ringing in her ears that she nodded along to. Someone tapped her shoulder and she jumped ten feet in the air, dropping her notebook on the ground. Izumi turned to look behind her at the amused expression of Itachi. She looked around the room and noticed that everyone was gone except for a snickering Naruto leaning against the door frame.

"Um, where is everybody?"

"They have all headed to the dining hall. My mother will be most upset if we are late." He extended his hand to help her stand. Izumi twitched like she was going to take it but then remembered who she was talking to and what would happen if she touched that hand. She would be hurting herself.

"Okay, I'll clean up my stuff and I'll be in real soon." Izumi gave a bright smile and Itachi's hand fell slowly back to his side. The amusement in his eyes lessened.

"All right. See you in a bit."

Itachi turned swiftly and then exited the room. Naruto stood against the door still. His smile was gone and he crossed his arms as he regarded Izumi who just sat in her chair staring blankly at the screen of her computer. So she had been wrong. It hurt just as much to ignore his gesture as it would have been taking it.

"Well, that was cold blooded. Why did you reject him like that?"

Izumi took a few seconds to answer. She wasn't sure how much she wanted to tell Naruto of all people. He seemed really invested in what was happening between her and Itachi but at the same time she didn't know him all that well.

"You wouldn't understand. Besides, he's taken and that's that. Shouldn't you be headed to dinner? You know how Mikoto gets." Izumi attempted a smile to show that she was joking but from Naruto's expression she could tell it fell flat.

"If you say I don't understand it then okay. I'll see you in there."

Izumi didn't respond as Naruto left the room. She flopped against the back of the chair and sighed. Wasn't falling for someone supposed to be better than this? Why did she have to pick someone who wasn't available? Izumi wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. Sure, it had only be a few days since she had discovered that she was in love with him but if everyday was going to feel like this the next few months of the semester were going to be excruciatingly long.

Izumi sighed and forced her self to sit up and put all of her things into her backpack. She glanced at her phone and noticed it was 7:15 She hoped that Mikoto didn't make everyone wait for her. With that thought in mind she grabbed her bag and headed to the dining room. There was delightful laughter and chatting coming from the hall and she couldn't help but smile. She set her bag next to the door like always and turned into the dining room. Fugaku was absent which explained the loud laughter. Naruto and Sakura were regaling everyone with a story about someone at their school Naruto affectionately called Bushy Brows.

Itachi looked up at Izumi as she entered the room and smiled at her. She slid into her new seat and he leaned over to hand her some food. She took it gratefully.

"Everything okay? I convinced mom not to wait since I didn't know how long you'd be."

"I'm all good and thanks for that. I was actually worried that everyone would be mad that I took so long."

"Who would be made about that?" Itachi smiled a full smile at Izumi and her heart stopped. It was the first time she had ever actually seen him give smile that wasn't a smirk. It took all of her control not to drop the serving spoon but she wasn't able to fight the giant smile overtaking her own face.

"Thank you."

"Passion. Strength. These are the things that you need to remember when doing the Paso Doble. It's a different type of dance than either the Rumba or the Samba but it is beautiful and fierce. It has great showmanship like the Samba and intensity like the Rumba but is just its own animal."

Izumi cocked her hip as she listened to her dance teacher passionately described the emotion behind the Paso. Their class had been working on it for the last week but they were not getting the right emotion apparently. If she were being totally honest, her dance shoes were way more interesting than what her instructor was saying.

"Well, I guess that's all we'll cover for now. How about you get with a partner and I'll put on a mix of songs so you can run through all three. We need these dances to be as uniform as possible for the competition and the medals exams that are coming up. I'll be walking around to give some tips. Remember that the steps are important and so is the form. But I also want you to try and use your hips. Work on your connection and perform a little. Don't save it all for the competition. You might mess up if that is the case. Good luck!"

"Are you ready for this?" Izumi instantly placed her hand in the palm waiting for her. She didn't even need to check that it was Sasori that asked her. It was like an unwritten rule in their class that she mostly danced with Sasori and sometimes danced with Deidara.

Sasori pulled her to an unoccupied part of the dance floor and they started the Samba. Keiko and Deidara stuck out their tongues and taunted them as they danced passed them. Sasori shouted about Deidara's girly pants but Izumi didn't even flinch. She kept her gaze firmly in front of her.

Their dance was clean and perfect but that was it. No flair, no connection, no nothing. Izumi's thoughts were too wrapped up in the person she had to help dance later. The man with long, flowing hair and a gentle disposition. That was endlessly kind to her but always making her chuckle. Izumi clenched her hand around Sasori's slightly as the pain in her chest seemed to multiply. Why did she have to think about him everywhere?

Sasori stopped their dance mid step and placed his hands on either side of her face and forced her to look at him in he eye. He studied her with a critical eye for several minutes and she tried not to look nervous in front of him. His gaze tore through her like he would know the deepest secrets of her soul. It was unnerving. Like looking into the eyes of one of his puppets.

"Oh gross. Really Izumi?"

Izumi was taken back as Sasori's face crumpled in disgust. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You've fallen in love with that idiot haven't you?"

Izumi froze and tried to avert her eyes. How could he have possibly known that? It wasn't like she was wearing it written on her face somewhere and Keiko hadn't said anything to her and normally she picked up on emotions like it was her super power. Then again, she hadn't really been around recently. Izumi shook her head. She had more pressing concerns at the moment then her best friend being busy. Izumi wilted.

"Am I that obvious?" There was no point in lying to Sasori.

"Not in the slightest. I just know you and you are never like this. Even when the world gets tough and your classes rip you apart you still smile and put your all into our dances. The only possible explanation for the reason that you are so down and distracted is because of love. Unrequited love to be exact."

"How did you come to be so smart and intuitive?"

Sasori shrugged his shoulders. "There's nothing you can do in this situation except sabotage their relationship and you're too good of a person to do that so you should just get over it. There's no point in moping."

"I'm not moping. I pissed that I fell. I'm pissed that I never even considered it as a possibility and then it happened."

"I see. Well, like I said there's nothing you can do about it so stop thinking about it."

Izumi listened to Sasori as she watched the other members of her class stomp through the Paso. Keiko and Deidara looked like a king and queen fighting for the throne.

"You're right. It needs to stop effecting my everyday life. Our dancing is going to suck if I don't pull it together."

"Oh thank goodness. I was starting to think I'd have to find a new partner and I'm not the most patient of people."

Izumi chuckled as he grabbed her hands and they started into the Rumba. "Could you not tell anyone about this? I don't want Keiko or Deidara to give me crap or make it worse."

"Your secret's safe with me. Now shut up and dance."

Izumi rolled her eyes and complied. Sasori was right. She couldn't keep thinking about Itachi. He was dating Megumi and she was his tutor. She would finish out the semester strong and then when summer hit she would keep a casual correspondence as friends. She could do this. She could be strong and pretend like she had never realized the scope of her feelings. She could pretend like she didn't dream about being held in his strong arms.

Itachi walked by the dance hall and peered in at the class. He waved at Deidara and then nodded at Sasori. His gaze landed on her for half a second and he smiled with a small wave. Izumi raised her hand and then continued to dance like nothing had happened.

Who was she kidding?

She would never be able to pretend that man didn't make her heart flutter with just one small smile.