Pull Me in Gently

Chapter 7

The car ride to the theater was hilarious. Obito had shown up while Izumi and Itachi were in the garden and demanded that he get to drive. Izumi happily jumped in his car with Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura followed. The other car had to pick up Shisui on the way so they said they would meet them there.

Obito and Naruto picked the loudest most danceable music they could find and everyone, with the exception of Sasuke, danced and sang along. Needless to say when they arrived they were laughing and dancing around like crazy people.

The other Uchiha car was waiting for them in the lobby of the theater and chatting quietly. They all turned when the heard Naruto and Obito burst through the door followed by Izumi dancing and Sakura yelling lyric changes. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the scene they were making.

"Oh dear, it seems your car ride was a lot of fun." Mikoto bit her lip as she smiled at the group.

"Unfortunately." Sasuke grumbled as Sakura hip checked him.

"We should have switched cars. It was like someone died in ours." Shisui groused and pretended to deflate. Izumi snorted and he looked at her for the first time. "Oh ho ho, and who might this be? I do believe that we have not been acquainted yet."

Izumi snorted again. "I'm Izumi and you must be Shisui." Izumi glanced at Itachi and smiled at him. Now she understood why he didn't want her to meet Shisui. He was flirt.

"My reputation precedes me. Now tell me, how do you know this fine family?"

Everyone watched the interaction between the two of them. They knew that Shisui was a little bit of flirt and that Itachi was attached to Izumi in some way that he hadn't realized yet. This was bound to get interesting. Mikoto watched her oldest as he seemed to tense the longer the conversation between the two drug out.

"I am currently tutoring Itachi in ballroom dance."

"You are?" Shisui turned to look at his cousin and best friend. "And why did you keep this information from me?"

"I didn't really feel like having you make fun of me for needing help in a dance class."

"Now why would I do that when the tutor is this cute?" Shisui turned back to Izumi who had turned a lovely shade of pink. "How long have you been tutoring him?"

"About two months or so."

"That long? Interesting."

There was lull in the conversation as Shisui smiled at Izumi and she proceeded to get redder and redder. Itachi had finally had enough. His blood was boiling and he didn't know why.

It was like he was watching Izumi study with Sasori but way way worse. This was his best friend for crying out loud! He should certainly leave what was Itachi's alone.

Wait.

Izumi wasn't his. Megumi was.

Itachi squeezed his hand and looked down to see that he was indeed holding Megumi's hand. He looked up at her face and she was watching the pair in front of them with her eyebrows furrowed but a smiled was slowly creeping up on her face. She leaned over slightly to whisper in Itachi's ear.

"They're kinda cute together. Maybe we should set them up? Ooh! We could do a double date." Oh heck no.

"All right. I think we've chatted enough. We should probably get our snacks and head to our seats don't you think?"

Everyone nodded and started moving towards the concession stand. Obito and Naruto shared a smile and then pulled Shisui over to talk with them. Occasionally they would look in Itachi's direction and smirk. Shisui became more and more animated. Itachi tried not to let what was going on bother him too much but he couldn't shake that he didn't want Shisui near Izumi. What if she fell for him?

Itachi tried to concentrate on Megumi as she asked him about what candy he wanted but he kept sneaking glances at the group of three guys and Izumi who was laughing with Sakura. Her laugh was so beautiful. Focus on Megumi. Itachi shifted his gaze back to his girlfriend.

"That one."

"Okay, Reeses Pieces it is!" Megumi smiled brightly as she ordered their candy and popcorn. He honestly hadn't paid attention to what he had just said he wanted as he was handed a bucket of popcorn and followed the rest of the group to the theater.

Fugaku walked down the row until he reached the end and then sat down followed by his wife. Sasuke took the next seat, then Saukra, Naruto, and Obito. Shisui sauntered down the row and plopped down next to Obito. Itachi moved to follow suit but was stopped but Shisui's loud voice.

"I want Izumi to sit next to me so the two of us can get acquainted." Izumi chuckled as she slid into the row and with her candy and started sharing Shisui's popcorn. Itachi clenched his hand into a fist and stood staring longer than was socially acceptable.

"Babe, come one, move in." Megumi nudged him with her palms on his back and pushed him into the row until he was sitting next to Izumi. She didn't even noticed as she was too engrossed in conversation with Shisui. Why did his mom insist on coming to the theater for her birthday? And why did he have to invite Izumi and Shisui?

The credits began and Izumi's face lit up wit ha smile. She honestly had no idea what movie sing-a-long they were coming to and now that she was here she could not help her excitement. Izumi had not expected Grease.

It wasn't too far into the movie and Izumi was already dancing around in her seat and mouthing along various quotes. Shisui would lean over and whisper funny things in her ear from time to time and she couldn't help giggling. He was really cute, like everyone in that stupid family, and had a killer personality but Izumi was more focused on the man to her left.

Itachi was weirdly rigid. He sat with a visible scowl on his face and his hand was loosely holding Megumi's. He was leaning really close to Izumi's chair. So much so that he had full command of the arm rest so she was forced to either sit close to him or lean a little toward Shisui. She really wanted to be as close as possible to Itachi but she knew it would be better to lean toward Shisui.

As the movie progressed Izumi soon forgot about Itachi's weird behavior. Mikoto had yelled at everyone about getting into the songs and singing along. She didn't have to yell at Shisui and Izumi as they were already singing along almost dramatically and dancing around. There was once instance where Shisui had even grabbed Izumi's hands and sang to her lovingly as she laughed and fluttered her eyelashes. Itachi silently seethed next to them.

The evening ended too soon for Izumi's liking and she exited the theater hanging onto Shisui's arm as the two of them sang and skipped to the parking lot. Mikoto chuckled as she held onto Fugaku. Everyone seemed to be in a great mood except for her oldest. He was grumpily watching the two skipping out the door as Megumi chatted happily and he nodded absentmindedly. Mikoto hoped he figured it all out soon. She could see the way Izumi pined for him too. And clearly Obito, Naruto, and Shisui were up to something.

"So, you really will come with me dancing tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, it sounds like lots of fun!"

Shisui smiled and grabbed Izumi into a tight hug. "Perfect, it's a date."

Izumi smiled back as the rest of the group reached them in the parking lot.

The two of you just met and you're already going on date? Shisui, my man!" Obito reached his hand out for a high five and Izumi rolled her eyes playfully.

"Anyway, thank you all so much for coming out and celebrating with me tonight. You mean so much to me and I had a lot of fun." Mikoto started to tear up and for the first time that night Itachi didn't look ready to kill someone.

"Mother, we still have one more surprise so everyone back to the house!" Itachi stated and made his way to the car. Sasuke followed him and scooted into the backseat. "What are you doing in here?"

"Don't you remember I hated the ride over and so did Shisui? So we switched." Itachi pursed his lips and Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Are you and Shisui fighting or something? You've been awfully frosty to him all night."

Itachi stared at Sasuke as he tried to come up with some sort of response. Nothing was coming that sounded remotely sane. Why was he so mad at Shisui just for talking with Izumi? That was something jealous boyfriends did. Oh no.

"Wait a minute." Sasuke's eyes widened as she stared at Itachi. "I get it. I'm slow but I finally get it. How did the idiot get it before me?" Sasuke turned to look out the window as he continued to mumble about everything. Itachi was dumbfounded. What exactly has Sasuke figured out? Megumi was just as confused as she watched the two brothers talk. She was definitely missing something.

They arrived at the Uchiha Estate and Itachi and Sasuke gathered everyone in the backyard. "Mother, for your birthday."

She looked at Sasuke warily and took the golden wrapped box from his hand. Inside was a large, skeleton key that was absolutely beautiful. She gasped at the workmanship and the tiny Uchiha fan in the handle.

"Follow us. " She complied as the brothers led her through the winding paths. Everyone else silently followed behind. Anticipation building with each step. Soon they arrived at the ivy covered wall and Itachi pulled back the vines to reveal a door. Mikoto slowly walked forward and placed the key inside and opened the door.

What was revealed was a garden full of fairy lights and magic. Izumi gasped at seeing the garden for the first time at night. The boys had really out done themselves. Everyone walked around and chatted with each other about the garden. Mikoto was crying and smiling at the same time. Izumi was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling of love and that she was intruding somewhere she didn't belong.

Izumi turned around and left the secret garden. She walked a little ways up the twisting path until she reached a bench next to the brook she hadn't been able to locate earlier. There were so many lights in this garden and it was gorgeous. Almost too gorgeous and a little surreal. Izumi looked down at her phone and realized she had actually missed a message.

FROM: Kei!

Hey Girl! I assume you are out with a hot guy or something so I just wanted to let you know that Deidara is using our apartment to store one of his sculptures so if you are home before I am and before ten he will be coming over to drop it off! Love you!

Izumi responded quickly as she heard approaching footsteps. "Texting someone special?"

Itachi moved to sit next to Izumi on the bench as she shook her head. "Nope, just my roommate."

"Are you sure it's not Sasori or something?" Izumi was taken back by the tone of Itachi's voice. What was his problem?

"Even if it was we're just good friends."

"Because you'd rather date Shisui instead of Sasori."

Izumi paused for a minute and shoved her phone into her pocket. Why was Itachi so invested in her dating life all of the sudden? "Honestly? They're both good looking and great guys but I'm not really interested in either one."

Itachi let out a breath and relaxed more on the bench. He looked so relieved. What was going with him? Itachi was really not acting like himself at all. Izumi took a deep breath and mustered up some courage. She tentatively placed her hand on his cheek and turned his head so he was facing her.

"Are you okay? Like really okay? You seemed a little upset tonight. Did I do something to upset you?"

Itachi stared at her for a few moments. She was especially beautiful among all the fairy lights and the moonlight high overhead. His breath stopped for a moment. How had he never realized just how captivating she was. He subconsciously leaned forward to close the gap between the two of them.

Izumi knew what was happening and with all the power she could muster she placed her hand on his chest and gently pushed him away. Tears gathered in her eyes. She knew today would hurt. She knew it would get too far and now she was back to being mad at herself for being so stupid. He wasn't available and she knew that so why was she constantly pushing boundaries and crossing lines.

"Sorry, I have to go." Izumi ran out of the garden and out of the house. Itachi sat on the bench and dropped his head into his hands. What was he doing? He had almost kissed her. Izumi. He had a girlfriend that he loved. Why was Izumi making him question everything? The whole reason they had met in the first place was so that she could help him win Megumi over. Why was he feeling so conflicted inside? Why was he so relieved to hear that Izumi wasn't interested in Sasori or Shisui?

Itachi sighed and stood up to make his way back to the secret garden where Sasuke had wheeled out the birthday cake. Itachi didn't understand all the emotions swirling through him but he did know that he was just going to ignore them. He had a loving girlfriend and he wasn't going to ruin all the hard work he had out into ballroom dancing because of weird feelings that seemed a lot like jealousy.