Just Call Me Cinderella

Chapter Two

"Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Ino poked Sakura's forehead while Sakura tried to eat her sandwich. She was practically yelling at this point.

"Ow! Ino-pig! Fine! I cleaned the bathrooms and I met his mother and his brother." Ino dropped her fork.

"You met Itachi Uchiha? The only guy that is hotter than Sasuke? Did you make out?" Ino's eyes sparkled as she moved closer.

"What? No! Ino I'm not a slut. Besides you know I'm there to work not play. We just had a nice conversation. I think we're going to get along really well. He also thinks that Sasuke has a stick up his butt." Ino snickered as Sakura took another bite of her sandwich.

"Who's got a stick up their butt?" Naruto set his tray next to Sakura and sat down. Sai sat down next to Ino. Ino instantly blushed.

"Who do you think idiot?" Sakura took another bite.

"She of course means the King of the school Sasuke Uchiha." Tenten sat down on the other side of Sakura and Hinata sat next to Naruto.

"See? Tenten wasn't even here and she knew exactly who I meant." Naruto made a face at Sakura and then started eating.

"Precisely. The only other person she could mean was me and we all know that I'm not that bad." Neji had suddenly materialized on Ino's other side across from Tenten. Everyone burst out laughing.

Lunch then was spent talking about various things. Sakura kept quiet for most of it. The guys were all best friends with Sasuke but in the last year they had grown closer to the group of girls. Mainly because Naruto liked Hinata and Neji was over protective of her. Sai was also too awkward and insulting of Sasuke most of the time so Sasuke didn't want to deal with him. Usually they left Sasuke to fend for himself with his fangirls at lunch.

Sasuke walked over and sat next to Neji. There were no fangirls anywhere and he looked agitated. "Why are you all ditching me every day for lunch?"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Because there are normal girls over here who are actually able to hold conversations unlike you." Sakura snorted and almost choked on her juice. She knew there was a reason that she was friends with Tenten.

Sakura made it to the rest of her classes without any problems. She tried to get her head mentally prepared for more work at the Uchiha household. During her classes she tried to get a little bit of homework done ahead of time. She was always really studious but this semester would be a little harder.

With her dad passing away Sakura had to start working and making more of an effort to help at home. She never saw her mom anymore because she was always working. They had opposite schedules since the night shift her mom had picked up paid a lot more.

The Uchiha house was really quiet tonight. Apparently Sasuke was out partying with some friends and would probably be home quite late. Itachi was in his room studying and the parents were away on business for a few days.

Sakura took in a deep breath and reveled in the atmosphere. The house seemed so relaxing and quiet. Her house never felt that way anymore. It felt empty and cold. Her father passed away from cancer only a month ago and it seemed that he had taken the life out of their house.

Sakura quietly moved through the rooms dusting every inch. She silently hummed to herself. The door creaked. She was in one of the guest rooms. She turned around to see Itachi leaning against the door frame. Ugh, what does he want?

"Hey Sakura. How was your day?" Uh, is he actually here just to talk to me? What the heck is he playing at? Sakura decided to go with it. She was wanting someone to talk to so she kept cleaning while she spoke.

"It was okay. Nothing special since it was only the second day back. How was your day?" He moved from the door frame to sit on the bed.

"It was good. My classes are really interesting and the most beautiful girl sat next to me today." Sakura turned and smiled. Ah! So there was a girl he wanted to talk about but he had no one to talk to.

"Oh really? What's she like?" Itachi smiled and then leaned back on the bed.

"She has long brown hair that goes halfway down her back and dark eyes. Her name is Izumi and we actually had a class together last year but I didn't have enough courage to talk to her. She's so smart and funny. And she makes the cutest face when she doesn't understand what the teacher is saying." Sakura stopped dusting and stared at Itachi. Why is he opening up to me like this? He looked up at her with a concerned expression. "What?"

"Master Itachi"

"Please, just Itachi."

"I think you're in love with her." He smiled really big.

"I think you're right. What should I do? How do I get close to her?" He sat up and looked at Sakura with the saddest expression. This had obviously been tearing him up inside.

"Simple. You ask her if she would like to study with you and then try to keep a regular study date. Then on one of the days ask her if she'd like to get something to eat and then after that ask her on a regular date. Just take it slow and get to know her." Itachi's face lit up. He jumped up and picked up Sakura and spun her around three times.

"You are an absolute GENIUS! I knew coming to talk to you would be the right thing! I knew it! I knew it!" Sakura laughed as he kept spinning her. He was acting like a brother she never had. Kind of like Naruto.

"Itachi, when you're done hugging the maid can you give me the keys to the Astin Martin?" Itachi put Sakura down and turned to look at his little brother.

Sasuke was leaning against the door frame with his arm around Karin's waist. Karin was the biggest slut in their high school and Sakura rolled her eyes. Clearly they were dropped off and were headed to some trashy party. She was wearing a skirt that hardly concealed anything and her shirt ended right under her breasts. Itachi sighed and whispered so only Sakura could hear.

"So annoying. . ." Sakura giggled and tried to hide her amusement. They really did not get along all that well. Itachi moved away from her and walked toward Sasuke while fishing something out of his pocket.

"Hey, aren't you in our class? Saki something or other?" Karin was shooting daggers at Sakura and trying to smile sweetly. She knew exactly who she was. She always picked on her forehead and called her ugly because she had pink hair. Which was not her fault. Neither was her forehead. Her seeing Sakura as a maid at the hottest guy in school's house was only going to make it worse.

Sakura rolled her eyes and put her hip out. Sasuke was looking at her but clearly didn't recognize her. She usually wore her hair down at school but here she wore it in a messy high ponytail.

"Her name's Sakura and yes I believe she is." Itachi smiled at Karin and she turned to look at him clearly confused for why he was coming to Sakura's aid. He handed Sasuke the keys and then turned to her when they left. "Do you have issues with that girl?"

"She's only the biggest slut in the school and she likes to step on me because I have a big forehead, pink hair, and I've gotten pretty quiet over the years." Itachi looked at her.

"Oh really? Why?" Sakura thought about it for a second. There were several reasons why she had changed. Should I tell him? Sure! He's starting to become a good friend.

"There are several reasons really." He motioned for her to sit next to him on the bed. Sakura complied. "First, I had a crush on this jerk since I was little and in the eighth grade he told me I was annoying so I decided to focus more on school than boys and kind of fell out of the woodwork." Itachi smirked.

"Let me guess. That boy was my foolish little brother." Sakura nodded.

"Yep! Second, I used to have this crazy temper that would erupt at anytime and my best friends could handle it but I met this kid named Naruto who tried my patience to no end and eventually I learned to cool off." Itached chuckled.

"Yes, Naruto is a handful."

"Lastly, my dad died about a month ago. I haven't really been my old self in a while. He was always so carefree and happy and then one day he gets cancer and dies. It's like he took that part of me with him so now I just want to focus on my studies even more. I have no problem being in the background. I don't care if she picks on me because one day she'll say the wrong thing and my temper will snap and she'll regret it." Sakura turned and smiled at Itachi. There were a few tears streaming down her cheeks but she hadn't noticed. Itachi smiled and gently put his arms around her in a comforting, brotherly hug.

After a few minutes he let go and told her that he'd kept her from her work too long and headed out the door. Sakura quickly finished and made her way home as well. She needed to get to bed early if she was going to get up for work tomorrow at five.

Sakura's alarm exploded at five am. She grudgingly got out of bed and dressed in her uniform. She grabbed her school uniform and books and rushed to get to the Uchiha's. Her mom had the car still so she walked. It wasn't that far and the crisp morning air helped to wake her up. It was her first time working the morning shift and she was a little nervous. Mei had explained to her that it was usually a really chill shift since everyone was still sleeping and they were mainly there for smaller chores.

Sakura quickly shoved her stuff in her locker and clocked in. She was about to make her way to the top of the stairs when the kitchen staff stopped her. "Ah, Miss, can you take this tray up to Master Sasuke's room? He requested that breakfast be delivered to his room by six thirty. We aren't allowed in there and the butler suggested we ask you since you are the maid on that floor."

Sakura nodded that she would take it and grabbed the silver tray from the man smiling at her. It had pastries and coffee and some bacon and eggs. Honestly, it looked delicious. She had forgotten to eat breakfast.

"Oh, Sakura!" Sakura turned around to see Mei smiling at her. "I need you to also pick up the school uniform of the lady staying with Master Sasuke. We need to speed clean and press it for her before school starts."

Sakura smiled and then turned around to head up the stairs. She rolled her eyes. It was sad that the staff was so prepared for Sasuke to have overnight visitors. He was a man whore. He was nothing like his brother from what she could tell.

Since it was six fifteen am Sakura didn't knock on the door. She was only allowed to knock after seven thirty and before midnight. Sakura gingerly opened the door and walked into the room. It was huge. Sure she had dusted it a little yesterday but she didn't really look at it. There was a small section that had a couch and two oversized chairs with a coffee table in the middle.

She walked forward and placed the tray lightly on the table. To the right of that there was the bathroom she had cleaned and his closet. There was a small partition wall that separated the bed from the sitting area and she made her way lightly there. She needed the girl's clothes.

Sakura tip-toed through the wall opening and tried not to look at the scene in front of her or she might gag. Karin was clutching tightly with her leg and arm to a sleeping Sasuke. They were both naked. The sheet that was supposed to be covering them slipped a little and Karin's ginormous butt was sticking out. Who hates me that they'd make me see this? Sakura looked up and cursed the heavens as she located the uniform that Karin had discarded before putting on her skanky outfit from yesterday.

Sasuke shifted position and groaned. Sakura booked it out of there not wanting to speak to either of them. She quickly got the clothes to be cleaned and made her way to wash the windows.

At around seven forty five when she was almost done Itachi's door flew open. "Ah! Sakura! Good morning!"

"Good morning Itachi!"

Sakura smiled and then continued to wash the last remaining windows that were down the hall. Sakura was on the last window now at the top of a ladder reaching for the tallest point. She had managed to get it with all of the other ones but she was getting tired. Plus, it was the end of her shift so she was antsy about getting to school on time.

"Oh look, if it isn't the ugliest maid on the planet." Sakura didn't look down but she knew that Karin was below her smirking her distaste. Sakura ignored her and kept working. "Oops!" Karin nudged the ladder with her arm and then sauntered down the steps.

Sakura's eyes widened as the ladder started wobbling to and fro. She was too high to get any good stability or to stop it. She was going to fall. Well, I guess this is how it's going to end.

Sakura squeezed her eyes tight as the ladder eventually collapsed. She braced for impact but fell into something surprisingly soft and muscular. Someone had caught her. Please be Itachi! Please be Itachi! Wearily Sakura opened her eyes and saw an impassive Sasuke holding her. He just stared at her.

"You shouldn't be up that high if you can't handle it." Sakura narrowed her eyes and pushed herself out of his arms.

"That's what you're going to say? No, 'are you okay?' or anything? You're such a jerk." Sasuke just looked at her and gave a "hn" then turned around and headed down the stairs. What was his problem? Why was he always such a cold jerk? Tcha! We should go down there and punch him in the face! We can't do that unless we want to get fired.

Sakura sighed and returned the ladder to the closet then made her way to her locker to change for school. Once changed she looked at the clock and realized that she had to book it to make it on time. She ran out the door and was stopped by Itachi. "Get in." She hopped in the car and he raced her to school.

"Thank you SO much Itachi! You are a lifesaver!" He smiled at her and then sped off to his own school. A few minutes later Sakura saw Sasuke and Karin pull up and walk into the school holding hands. So they were officially an item now. They deserve each other! Rolling her eyes she made her way to her first class.

Since Wednesday was the only real night Sakura had to relax she had Ino, TenTen, and Hinata over. It had been too long since they had all been able to get together.

"Okay, okay. So did you guys hear that Sasuke is officially dating Karin?" Ino looked around at everyone excitedly as she painted her nails a dark purple. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Ino, I didn't have to hear. I had to bring them breakfast in bed this morning." Sakura tried to growl at the memory but couldn't. She was scarred for life!

"What? They were in bed together?" Tenten looked up from painting her toenails with a surprised look on her face.

"No duh! She's the school slut!" Hinata laughed at Tenten.

"I want the details! What happened exactly?!" Ino was closer to Sakura on the bed with anticipation. She loved gossip and the fact that her best friend now worked in the most gossiped about house was perfect.

"Basically I brought them food and then we had to wash her uniform so I had to go find it and they were cuddling naked but the sheet wasn't covering her giant butt."

"Gross!" they yelled in unison.

"You really saw her naked butt? Are you scarred for life or what?!"

"What do you think Ino-Pig!" They all fell into laughter and continued like that for the rest of the time.