A/N: Hello! I just wanted to write a story for all the awesome people who have read and reviewed all my stories at least once. I'm dedicating this story to you. I know it's not nearly as long as it should be, but regardless I hope you enjoy it. For those of you interested in my updating status it's going to slow down unfortunately. I'm going on vacation for two weeks. Then I go back to school and before you ask I'm not taking my computer on vacation with me. Thank you for your continued patience.

Disclaimer: For those who need to ask, I don't own Naruto or its characters.

To the Beat of the Music

Chapter 1: Attractive

Izuna Uchiha could barely breathe with how fast his heart was pounding. Here he was in the Uchiha estate ballroom learning to dance. That wasn't the problem. The problem was his dance instructor. He had not been expecting a pink haired, green eyed girl who was 22 at the oldest to sweep into the ballroom as gracefully as if she was already on a dance floor.

As a 26-year-old Uchiha, certain things were expected of him. One of those things was dancing. As such, his mother signed him up for lessons with a private dance instructor. She was supposedly the best in Japan. When she came into the room she was listening to her iPod and carrying a small BOSE sound dock.

Izuna considered himself to be a rather handsome man. He attempted to tame his long spiky hair by pulling it into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. Though it was still spiky and a bit wild the rest fell to the middle of his back in a soft and silky pelt. His eyes were a rich pure black. His face was similar to his brother's except Izuna's face had sharper angles to its contours.

All Uchiha were beautiful though so it wasn't as though he was exceptionally attractive like his cousins or his brother. His hair wasn't as wild as Madara's or as smooth as Itachi's. He wasn't as handsome as Sasuke or as outgoing as Shisui. For an Uchiha, he felt as though he was average at best although his faithful fan following would strongly oppose such thoughts and feelings. Since he felt that his looks were nothing special, he strived to be the most gentlemanly of Uchiha. This had made his already enormous fan base even larger and more devoted.

Crazed fan girls were his worst fear and his greatest hatred. That being the case, he was beyond relieved when his dance instructor didn't act like a psycho and try to rape him. It's happened before… twice. Izuna decided to take a good look at this girl who was basically ignoring him.

He immediately tensed at her grace, confidence, and uniquely breathtaking features as she set up her sound dock, placed her iPod in it and started to play a waltz. She was the opposite of the only timid Uchiha in the world. As if that wasn't bad enough, the moment she caught sight of his tense form she took him in her arms in a gentle hug and told him she wasn't letting go until he relaxed.

Normally, Izuna would just push her away labeling her as a fan girl. The only reason he didn't was because when she hugged him it was without expression. She held him so close he could feel her heartbeat. He was shocked and just stood there for a long while before relaxing into her touch. She let go the moment she felt him calm down. Before long she spoke again.

"If you're going to learn to dance, before you can learn the steps or positions of each individual dance you have to learn to relax in the arms of a woman. Some dances will have us far about arms length away while others will have us pressed against one another. If you can relax you'll be able to lead the woman confidently. You won't know every woman you dance with so be prepared. You will still have to relax when her arms are around you, Izuna-san."

If Izuna thought his heart was pounding before it was attempting to beat down his chest now. His heartbeat was too fast to even measure. His brain kept giving him images of this pink haired beauty wrapped around him in some of the dances he'd seen in the ballroom led by his big brother Madara. Madara was a fan of dirty dancing and no he's not talking about the movie.

Izuna blushed crimson at the thoughts he was having of this mysterious beauty. She hadn't even given her name and he already felt like putty in her hands. She had captivated him from the time she walked into the room.

"Please tell me your name. I know I need to get used to dancing with women I don't know, but I would at least like to know the name of my instructor." Izuna requested having no idea where he was getting his courage. He had been certain he would stutter.

She stunned him yet again when she smiled the most exquisite smile he'd ever seen. It was the first time she'd shown him any kind of expression and what an expression it was. Izuna felt his breath stolen from his lungs again.

"I was beginning to worry about you. You haven't made a single sound since I've arrived. I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me. I'm sorry if I came across as hard to approach. Please forgive my lack of manners, Izuna -san. My name is Sakura Haruno." She stated bowing slightly. Despite her words Izuna found her to be very polite. It was another trait to add to his growing list of things he found attractive in a woman.

"Izuna-san, I should have asked this before I set it up, but do you mind having music playing while we talk?" The beauty known as Sakura questioned with an innocent tilt of her head. She pointed to the sound dock that was still playing music.

"Aren't we going to dance?" Izuna asked blushing again at his words. He hoped they didn't sound too forward.

Sakura giggled a bit. "I'm not nearly that excellent of a teacher. I don't even know what your dominant learning style is. This will be a long session because we will use the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic styles together in order to find your dominant style."

Thus the first step of instruction began. Sakura pulled a packet of pictures from her purse and had Izuna examine every detail of them. He did so, eager to please her. As he went through the pictures she described each stance and step in such vivid detail that the images seemed to come to life. When the auditory and visual parts of the instruction were done they moved on to the hands on approach aka kinesthetic learning.

Sakura had met Sasuke and Itachi before and found they were visual learners. As such she was quite surprised when Izuna excelled as a kinesthetic learner. It was a rare student who was dominant in that learning style. Students who learn through touch are often hardest to teach but in dancing it's the opposite. Izuna was able to pick up the steps and postures and holds far quicker than any student Sakura had ever seen. For her this was a great relief because she wasn't sure how much longer the music would hold her together.

She found out that Izuna was quite the charmer. He would drop compliments every few moments and smile down at her. His smile was that of an angel's, and if she were any other girl she would have melted into a puddle of blushing pink goop. However Sakura was Sakura and no one else. She had a disturbing history with men. She's been trying to overcome her fear of the creatures since she was 20 by becoming a dance instructor and immersing herself in her own personal horror movie.

There were a couple problems though. She couldn't even talk to a man without music playing and giving her strength. Secondly the more charming a man was the more suspicious she became. Sakura felt if a man was civil towards her it was because they wanted something. Most people had ulterior motives to begin with when being kind in her opinion, but men could be so much more aggressive when it comes to something or someone they want. Besides she didn't believe men could possibly love her because of how weak she was without music.

Sakura immediately halted her thought process. She was teaching Izuna and wouldn't allow her thoughts and feelings to interfere with her work. When she got home she would breakdown, cry, scream, and curse all men, but right now she would just let the music transport her into her own little world where she was fearless and unshakable. If only she could stay in that world, then things would be great.

Izuna noticed when Sakura stopped smiling and talking. Strangely enough it was right about the time he started to actively compliment her. It was rare for an Uchiha to worry about the wants and needs of another, but Izuna couldn't really help it. He wouldn't be so concerned if it weren't for the fact that he could feel her pulling away from him. She remained just as physically close if not closer but the laughter and her faith in herself had almost completely left her eyes.

This person that he was dancing with now seemed so fragile and vulnerable and somehow he didn't mind at all. On the contrary he wanted to protect this nearly defenseless woman from all harm. For the first time since he pulled her into his arms he did something he wasn't instructed to do. Izuna gave her hand a light squeeze and ever so slightly pulled her closer, as if attempting to close the distance she had suddenly put between them. When she looked up into his eyes with a scolding on her lips her breath stopped short. His angelic smile was back but this time it was self-assured and strong yet oh so gentle. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong or would you rather not talk about it?"

Sakura gave him a weak but genuine smile in return. "You truly are exceptional Izuna-san. Not only would most men not notice I was upset but the majority of the ones who could wouldn't care. I'm sorry for worrying you. Thank you for doing so but let's concentrate on your lesson. I want you to be a bit better at the waltz before we end today's lesson. Does that sound agreeable?" Sakura asked in a soft and solemn voice.

"That sounds perfectly acceptable Sakura-san." Izuna replied. Though in all honesty, "acceptable" was far too inadequate for his liking. It sounded downright wonderful. If only what happened next didn't happen.

"You're finally learning to dance, are you little brother? Why wasn't I informed? I would have been more than happy to show you how it's done as long as your teacher was willing and able." Madara Uchiha loudly announced his arrival.

Izuna wanted to shoot him. He had just felt Sakura start to relax when Madara had made his flamboyant entrance. Izuna saw her shut herself off to the world again. He felt her pull out of his arms and leave to gather her things. As soon as she left his embrace he began to feel empty and alone. At the thought that she might swoon into Madara's arms the feeling multiplied until he felt heavy with the nearly palpable disappointment.

"Wait a minute, beautiful. I can understand if you're fed up with my little brother's company but I assure you now that I'm here, we can have a grand old time!" Madara exclaimed proudly. He went over to Izuna's gorgeous dance instructor and tugged on her waist only to have her gracefully turn on her heal and punch him in the face with all her might. The only one who could have been more shocked at the display than Izuna would be Madara himself.

Madara just stood there with his mouth agape. He didn't understand how this could have possibly happened. No one had ever hit him. He was an oldest son of the proud Uchiha clan. Men feared his influence and women begged for his attention. The only girl he had ever met to not give him a second glance had been a scrawny little thing with pink hair in Itachi's ball room dance class.

… Wait a minute. "It can't be. Are you Sakura Haruno?" If Madara thought he was shocked before he was positively dumbfounded now. Sakura Haruno had been a timid little thing, almost too shy to speak. That's how it was until the music played at least. According to Itachi, when music was on she morphed into a whole new person. He claimed it was like watching a very plain cocoon break open to reveal a magnificent butterfly.

Madara had always thought that Itachi had been exaggerating due to the crush he had on her, but from what he had seen in her of the fire in her eyes and the elegance of her movements he knew he was wrong. Sakura Haruno was a special one. Madara couldn't deny his intense curiosity at this new discovery. He knew there was more to her than what appeared on the surface. Her punch had told him that much.

"Have you finally remembered, Madara? I admit I'm surprised to see that such a resentful man could grow into such a horny dog. It's quite disgusting. That being said please do not interfere with Izuna's lessons in the future. I'm here to teach him not stroke your ego." Sakura hissed. Before Madara could respond to her hate filled words she put her ear-buds in her ears and left the room as elegantly as she had entered.

Izuna and Madara had never thought that someone's anger could be so attractive.