A/N: Don't kill me if you find this story disappointing and sort.
When Mother was still alive , she used to tell me the story of a poor girl who was kindhearted and all but was maltreated by her stepmother and stepsisters. I remembered how sad I felt when I heard of her misfortunes and sufferings however I couldn't help but to smile when I finally learned the ending of her tale.
"You see, Sakura," Mother would tell me with crinkled eyes "all it takes is a kind heart."
I grew up with my mother's words and the happy ending of Cinderella etched deeply within my heart. It wasn't a few times that I dreamed of having a story similar to her. In truth, whenever I was in trouble I'd always hope that someday a prince would save me from my dilemma.
And so, he came.
He wasn't like Cinderella's prince. Not that he was homely and that…he was just really…different. Instead of lovingly kind blue eyes and blond tresses, he possessed a pair of cold coal black orbs and equally straight dark hair. Instead of a friendly and bright aura he was surrounded by a hostile and gloomy atmosphere. Above all, he didn't meet me at a ball. I was working as a waitress in his favorite café.
I never knew what he had seen in me but at the moment when he asked me out all I could ever think of was my fairy tale becoming true at last. It didn't take a long time before we've gotten married. I was in bliss and couldn't think of anything else. I saw him as my savior from poverty and from mockery. All my life I've always been a poor girl and when he came, my fate had a sudden twist.
Looking back, I was nothing but a fool easily lured by the promises of wealth. I was severely blinded by the shine of his riches to see that he was no prince. I totally agree with what Sasuke said.
When my eyes fell upon his mansion, my jaw dropped in astonishment. Yet, before I could ever marvel about my fortune he quickly brought me to our room. Beyond the door of that room, he removed his princely masked and revealed the monster ready to attack.
Nobody knew what happened beyond that door. That door together with the walls muffled my screams and no one could come to aid me…to save me from the clutches of whom I first thought as my savior.
He would often knock his fist against the walls before opening his mouth to speak.
"You see, it's soundproof. It's useless to scream."
He never hit me on visible parts especially my face. He said that I would be useless to him if my face would be marred. Due to that said, I almost destroyed my face but I got a grip on myself. It wasn't I who needed to suffer to escape this predicament.
I remembered my mother's words. Kind heart?
I laughed at the thought. When mother left me to face the bitterness of the world, I didn't use a kind heart to survive. If I did, I wouldn't be alive.
One morning, I was in Itachi's study thinking very hard on how to end my misery. Suddenly, I picked up a sound of familiar footsteps. I wasn't expecting him until night.
"Ita—Itachi…" I cursed myself for stuttering due to fear because the footsteps halted "Please…" I swallowed the lump in my throat "could….could you spare me tonight? My body aches all over—"
"Then why the hell are you standing?"
It was similar to his voice but I knew it wasn't him. It was Sasuke.
Then, the foolish part of me escaped its confinement and pleaded to my assailant's brother.
My hands held his and hold them tight.
"Sasuke, please help me." I cried before him "Every night, whenever, he felt like it he'd always hurt me. Please…I'll be dead if I stay here any longer."
It was as if he got a pale of ice cold water and poured it down on me when he pried my hands off him and spoke "You should've known him first before you got blinded by his wealth."
He has spoken the truth. It was utterly my fault and I could never forget those words he spoke.
However, Sasuke stayed in our house until Itachi got home and the two of them somehow engaged in wine all night.
When Sasuke left, he gave me a look that, I presumed, said "That's the least I can do."
Few weeks later, he visited again. This time he had a gun—a revolver—and he gave it to his brother. I couldn't understand his purpose. He knew very well how dangerous Itachi is. I wanted to cry and wail. I wanted to kill them both for openly toying with me. I asked for the thousandth time what have I done to deserve this life. I thought Sasuke was at least helping me…but I presumed it wrong.
"When you leave the first chamber empty and put a bullet on the second. The first shot is a bluff but the second one surely can kill."
I managed to hear or rather it was really said to me. I wasn't sure of it.
And as expected, Itachi found a new way to frighten me using his gun. He was really insane and he was also trying to loosen my thread. Every night, thinking that I was asleep, he would point the gun against my head and pull the trigger. It was a bluff yet still frightening for no one knew when that gun would be loaded.
The fear grew stronger when he pointed the gun at himself against his temple. He was really crazy and has no hope to change. Again it was a bluff. Perhaps, he knew that I wasn't really asleep. Perhaps, that was the reason why he had an evil smirk up on his face.
Insane…my prince is insane. I wonder, if Cinderella was in my place, what she would do.
Then, that day came.
That day wasn't like any other day. Itachi committed a terrible mistake.
He left his gun.
And it just happened that I knew where he hid those precious bullets. The only problem was how to kill him without being caught. As if on cue, I remembered Sasuke's words about the revolver.
Later that night, Itachi made another mistake. This time it was a grave mistake. Carelessness could really kill. He didn't check if the gun was loaded.
The first shot is a bluff but the second could surely kill.
Slowly, I got up and stare at his body at the floor. He laid down there…Cold and lifeless just like even before he was dead. It just served him right. And for the first time since we've gotten married, I smiled. Eventually, it became a smirk.
Mother, so you still believe that all it takes is a kind heart?
Cinderella, you would do the same, don't you?
No one doubted the forensics. It was a suicide. They all believed. Except for one man.
Only I and Sasuke were the only ones that remain standing before Itachi's grave and even if it showed disrespect for his brother I thanked him.
He looked at me and I was surprised to see those words again written in his eyes. Only this time I didn't just presumed about it. He managed to say it.
"That's the least I could do."
A few more while and he began to walk away and soon after I followed him.
Cinderella killed the prince and lived happily ever after with his wealth.