Just Call Me Cinderella
Chapter Four
The four girls sat and laughed on the king size bed in the guest room that was right across from Itachi's room. Itachi had it set up that way so if they needed anything they could ask. Ino had planned on a sleepover and had brought all of her clothes plus makeover supplies, magazines, movies, and junk food. She was the queen of sleepovers.
They were all already in their pajamas. Ino was wearing short blue soffee shorts with a light blue tank top. Tenten was wearing lime green sweatpants that had been cut off just below the knee and a dark green t-shirt that had the sleeves cut off. Hinata was wearing light purple pajama pants with dark purple flowers all over them with a matching short sleeve dark purple top. Sakura who did not know she was going to be sleeping over was wearing brand new pajamas that Itachi had gotten her. They were a light pink babydoll top with matching pants. There were little cherries all over them and they were incredibly comfortable.
There was a knock on the door and Sakura beckoned the person to enter. It was Itachi.
"So, I have a date with Izumi tonight." Sakura freaked out and stood up.
"No way! Can we help you get ready? Please!" At this question the other girls stood up and gathered behind Sakura. They all had excited looks on their faces.
"Oh, why not?" Itachi smiled. He actually had planned to ask for help. He was nervous and excited and he knew that Sakura needed cheering up. He turned to lead the way to his room.
"Okay, first things first we need music." Tenten smiled and pulled out her phone. She located a speaker next to Itachi's bed and plugged it in. Instantly the room filled with music and the girls all started to sing and dance.
"Next we need details." Hinata forced Itachi to sit on the edge of the bed to tell her what the date entailed.
"Okay, we are going to dinner at a regular restaurant and then I'm taking her to see a musical that she really wanted to see."
"Alright, and now! Wardrobe!" Sakura sauntered into his closet and began looking through things while Ino went into the bathroom to peruse cologne, Hinata chatted with Itachi and Tenten as she brushed his hair. Ino emerged in a few minutes with a few different scents and began asking Itachi which he preferred.
The door to his room flew open. "Hey Itachi, we're all going to ride go-carts. Do you wan—" Sasuke stood in the doorway with Naruto. He stopped talking when he saw that Ino held up cologne for Itachi to smell and that Tenten sat next to him as Hinata brushed his hair. They didn't look surprised in the slightest but when Hinata saw Naruto her face turned pink.
"What's going on here?"
"Well you know they are staying the night so I thought I would ask them to help me get ready for my date tonight." Itachi smiled as he smelled the cologne and gave his opinion to Ino. There was a gorgeous singing voice coming from the closet and the boys turned to see who it was. Itachi smiled as he watched his brother's anticipation.
Sakura stepped out of the closet still singing with a black shirt in her hand. "Hey, Tachi I think you should wear this with just the jeans over there." She motioned to the pair that was on the floor by his bed. Ino nodded.
"Heck yeah he should! You're going to look so hot in that!" Itachi smiled and blushed a little.
Sakura finally turned to look at the door and realized that the two boys were staring at her. Sasuke had never really looked at her before now but she was so. . . cute. There was no other way to describe it. Her hair was still in the messy ponytail but the babydoll pajamas were just adorable on her. He smiled a little unconsciously.
"Oh, hey Naruto. What's up?" Naruto just looked at her and then at Sasuke who was still sort of smiling. Sakura followed his gaze. "What are you smiling at?"
He instantly stopped and got uncomfortable. "Uh, nothing. Anyway, we can see that you're busy. We'll be back later. The other guys might come over too." With that they turned around and shut the door. Itachi started laughing.
"Oh, Sakura, I think you just embarrassed my little brother. He was starting to think you were cute." Everyone started laughing. The fact that Sasuke had been flustered was so great.
The girls continued to help Itachi get ready until he looked perfect. He was starting to get really nervous but they kept giving him calm advice until he was out the door to get Izumi.
"And don't forget when you get home you have to find us and tell us everything! Right girls?" Everyone nodded excitedly. He left to get into his car and they headed down to the kitchen. Itachi had said something about pizza for them. They decided to watch a movie after that so they grabbed a few and dug into their pizza.
"I wish Sasuke was more like Itachi. He'd be so much more fun to hang out with." Tenten took a bite of her cheese pizza.
"No kidding. That was so much fun and he was so nervous! I bet Sasuke never gets like that anymore since he always just sleeps around." Ino sipped at her Coke.
"True, but at least the others guys aren't that bad." Hinata chewed quietly. Sakura just took everything in around her. It felt so good to be surrounded by friends today and she was glad that Itachi was being so generous to her. She couldn't imagine what she would be doing if she hadn't started working here.
"So, Hinata, anything happen with Naruto yet?" Ino poked Hinata in the side as she turned bright red.
"I wish! I don't think he thinks I like him. I just want him to ask me out on a date." She looked sadly down at her pizza.
"You know, we can help with that." Sakura gave a mischievous smile to the other girls and they all laughed.
They finished eating their pizza and were just lounging around the movie room trying to decide what to watch. Loud laughter filled the air and soon four boys walked in.
Sakura continued to lay on the floor in front of where Hinata and Tenten were sitting on the couch. Ino had Sakura's head in her lap and was playing with her hair. The boys continued to walk into the room not even noticing them. Soon, though, Naruto caught sight of them.
"HEY YOU'RE STILL HERE! WANNA HANG OUT WITH US?" He ran right up to them and plopped himself in-between Hinata and Tenten. Sakura, Ino, and Tenten burst out into laughter. Naruto was always the one who could make them laugh no matter what.
"I'm sure they have other things they want to do than hang out with you idiot." Sasuke walked up with Neji and Sai. He just stood there looking at all of them and trying not to look at Sakura. Why couldn't she still be invisible to him? Sai immediately sprawled out next to Sakura with his head in Ino's lap. He was on one leg with Sakura on the other.
"Uh, what the crap Sai?"
"It looked comfortable. You can play with my hair too." Sakura turned slightly to look at Ino who blushed. Sakura mouthed oh my gosh and Ino mouthed I freaking know right? Then she slowly put her fingers in his hair and began to play with it. Sakura looked at Tenten and Hinata who were returning her excitement for Ino.
Even if they had to hang out with the man slut jerkface Sasuke Uchiha at least some of them would be extremely happy. Neji sighed and sat next to Tenten. He was pretty close, since the couch wasn't that big, that their arms were touching. Tenten's cheeks turned a little pink.
"We actually were just going to watch a movie. You're welcome to join us." Sakura smiled sweetly up at Sasuke from her position in Ino's lap. He just "hn'd" and moved to sit a few seats away.
"I think a movie with you girls would be a lot of fun." Neji smiled at Tenten and she turned even redder. Sakura looked shocked for a minute. She hadn't realized that Tenten had a crush on Neji. She was losing her touch. Though she had been pretty busy recently and a little distracted with losing her father. She'd have to ask Tenten about it later.
"All right. I've been in the mood to watch Star Trek Beyond all freaking day so that's what we're watching." Sakura turned to look at everyone and they just nodded. Clearly not going to dispute when she was that commanding. Even Sasuke seemed a little taken back by her force. Ino smiled. Sakura's dad had loved Star Trek and this was the last one he saw before he died.
Sakura got up to put the movie in and then came back out after turning out the lights. Ino moved so she was now leaning against one of the open chairs and Sai was still on her lap. "I'm going to get some popcorn. Does anyone want anything?" Several people yelled for popcorn and everyone yelled for drinks. Sakura nodded and made her way to the kitchen.
If there was one thing she knew how to do in the Uchiha mansion it was get drinks and popcorn. It seemed like Sasuke couldn't watch a movie without it so she was always summoned to get them. She watched the popcorn in the old fashioned popcorn maker pop as she waited. There were two popcorn buckets that she was going to fill and then pass around. She grabbed a drink tray that they had specifically for this reason and proceeded to fit eight drinks of different varieties in there.
How was she going to carry all of this? Sakura shrugged and decided to get the drinks first and then come back for the popcorn. She entered into the movie room and found that Neji now had his arm around Tenten and Naruto was leaning his head on Hinata. It was so cute that everyone was so snuggled up together. Sasuke was reclined in the chair next to where Ino was sitting on the floor with his head on his hand. Apparently he felt like he should move closer to see the movie.
Sakura passed out all of the drinks and then made her way to the kitchen for the popcorn. She laughed at the fact that she was hanging out with her friends but she was still taking on the role of maid. The popcorn was finished and she walked in with the two buckets. She passed them around. With her eyes on the screen.
"Right on time Sakura! It's just starting!" Naruto smiled at her from Hinata's shoulder she turned her attention to see that they were now holding hands. Sakura looked around for a place to sit. Ino looked up and whispered to her.
"Sit by me forehead. I know you're going to need me." Sakura smiled down at her and managed to sit against the same chair and to the right. She was right in front of Sasuke since he was leaning on his hand.
The popcorn bucket finally made it to her and she decided to hold it hostage for a while. She giggled as Sai begged Ino to feed him some. Ino rolled her eyes but gave Sakura an excited expression as she complied. Sakura watched the movie and continued to eat her popcorn.
Suddenly a hand leaned down over her shoulder to grab some popcorn from the bowl in her lap. Sakura tried to sit still even though her nerves were going crazy. He had never been this close to her before on purpose. She may still have a little bit of her childhood crush.
Sasuke leaned forward and whispered into her ear. "Sorry. I got a little hungry." She tried not to sink into how nice it felt to have his breath on her ear. He continued to lean down and get some popcorn every so often. At one point he sat up and scooted a little forward. He gently put his hands on her shoulders and started to massage them.
Sakura wasn't sure what to do. He'd never even looked at her before and now he was touching her? What the crap? She looked over at Ino who was looking at her curiously. She shrugged her shoulders and mouthed I've got nothing, sorry. Sakura just decided to ignore him. Sasuke continued to massage her shoulders for a little bit and then stopped. Sakura turned to look at him for a minute.
He leaned down to her ear and whispered "I just thought that I should thank you for all of the good work you do." Sakura could feel his trademark smirk on her ear. What the heck was going on? Since when did he even care about her work? She figured it was because Itachi had told him about what was wrong with her and somewhere deep down in Sasuke he actually had a heart and felt bad. Sakura turned back to the movie and smiled at herself. Well at least the hottest guy in school gave you a massage.
Sakura tried to calm down her inner self and focused on the movie. The part she knew she was going to lose it was coming up. She quickly leaned down to Ino's shoulder. Ino instinctively put her arm on her back and started to rub.
Sasuke watched the whole thing. He had no idea what he was doing. Why had he whispered in her ear like that multiple times? Why did he feel the urge to reach out and touch her? What was happening to him? Spock started talking about Ambassador Spock and he could hear Sakura start to sniffle. Clearly, this was hard for her when she thought about her dad. He watched Ino's hand gently rub Sakura's back and he instantly wished that he could the one comforting her. What the crap?
Everyone continued to watch the movie and when it ended Sakura got up to stretch and turn on the lights. Everyone was talking quietly to each other. Tenten and Neji were almost touching foreheads and Naruto had not moved from Hinata's shoulder so he was looking up at her as they talked. Sai had turned in Ino's lap so he could look straight up at her. Sakura could tell that everyone was chatting about the movie and she smiled. She loved seeing her friends all happy.
Sasuke was staring straight at her. She instantly felt a little uncomfortable. He had been acting weirdly all night. She turned to remove the movie and heard the door open.
"Itachi! You're back! We want all of the details!" Ino yelled so loudly that Sai was groaning that he had lost his hearing.
"Ha ha, okay. Well I'm going to shower first and then I'll meet you upstairs in your room." He smiled and then left. Ino, Tenten, and Hinata instantly shot up much to the dismay of their guy friends. They wanted to hear everything. Sakura had somehow gotten them all invested in Itachi's relationship like she was.
"Hey, Sakura, can you put in Super Smash? Thanks!" Naruto had already recovered from being thrown on the ground from Hinata's standing up and was pulling out a few controllers from a shelf.
"No problem." Sakura inserted the disk and switched the system over so they could play. She turned around and smiled at everyone. "Well goodnight guys! I suppose we might see you tomorrow. But sleep well." Sakura began to walk toward the door. She heard Sasuke mutter a 'goodnight' but she chose to ignore it.
The next day the girls woke up, got dressed, and headed downstairs for some pancakes. Itachi joined them and he still had a smile on his face. His date had gone extremely well and he had even kissed her on the cheek. They were going to go out in a couple of days and he was really excited. They ate and chatted happily. It was around ten o'clock and the girls had decided that they had probably over stayed their welcome and needed to head out.
"Itachi, it's time! Oh, and girls, you can't leave yet. Not until we are done!" Mikoto popped her head into the kitchen and then was instantly gone. The girls all looked at Itachi confused. He smiled and motioned them to follow him to the ballroom.
"On Sunday mornings my mother insists that we have a little time for music. She likes it because it's peaceful. Usually I play a piece on the piano and so does Sasuke. Sometimes we sing. It just depends." Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata entered the ballroom and saw that there was a grand piano surrounded by several small couches and chairs. There was also an phone docking station.
They all entered the room and noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha, Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, and Sai were already all sitting down. There was also Karin, Sasuke's slutty girlfriend hanging on his arm. "Hey, Hinata! Over here!" Naruto switched his position from sitting next to Sai to a couch that was previously empty. Hinata turned bright red and then made her way over.
Sakura and Itachi followed to sit next to them. Ino walked over and sat next to Sai who smiled in his weird fake way and Tenten made her way to where Neji was sitting in a chair and took the chair next to him. He smirked as she sat down.
"All right. Let's start with the oldest."
Itachi nodded and made his way to the piano. His long fingers gently grazed the keys. He was a master. Sakura leaned forward a little. She always loved music, especially the piano, and she always joked that the man she married would have to be a pianist. It kind of had to do with the fact that she loved to sing but also because she loved the sound of the black and white keys.
He finished after a few minutes and everyone clapped. Mikoto's face beamed; obviously proud of her son's fine skills. Sakura gave Itachi numerous compliments as Mikoto called Sasuke forth. He sat down and again the music flowed beautifully from his fingers. Sakura hardly blinked. He was almost better than his brother. She was mesmerized. Itachi looked at Sakura's face and smirked. He knew that she was slowly falling in love with his brother and that was totally okay with him.
Sasuke finished and everyone clapped as Karin jumped up and practically attacked him. He was a little embarrassed but didn't show it. Sakura felt so uncomfortable with Karin's clinginess and could tell that everyone else felt the same.
"All right, why don't we have one of our guests perform?" Mikoto looked around. Karin immediately smiled and sat a little straighter hoping to get called on. "Sakura, I hear that you are a wonderful singer." Sakura's face erupted in pink and she turned to look at Mikoto. "Ino and Tenten were telling me all about how you are amazing. I'd love to hear it. Do you have anything prepared?"
Sakura stood up and headed toward the phone jack and plugged in her phone as she searched for the right song and talked at the same time. "Actually, I do. When my dad was diagnosed with cancer I decided that for his birthday I would make him a CD of all of his most favorite songs that I would sing. He was always my biggest supporter. You can ask Ino, I practiced these songs everyday so they were perfect. I never got to make him a CD but I think it's fitting that I perform his favorite the day after his birthday."
Sakura looked at everyone around her and noticed that they were all listening to her intently. Sai's falseness was gone and Naruto wasn't fidgeting at all. She pressed play and waited for the song to start. She closed her eyes as the words began to come out. She was singing "Sympathy, Tenderness/ Someone Like you" from Jekyll and Hyde.
Every emotion that she had was put into this song. Sakura was sure that this was one of the reasons her dad loved this song. She always felt every word. This was all about love that was unrequited and hoped for. Honestly, when she first discovered this musical it was around the time that Sasuke had told her she was annoying and then he forgot all about her.
How fitting he could hear how she had felt after that.
She opened her eyes and the song switched to the more belty and dynamic "Someone Like You". Sakura used her arms and let her voice fly. She could see tears streaming down Ino and Hinata's cheeks. Mikoto was also rubbing her cheeks. Itachi was staring wide eyed and Karin looked more annoyed than before. The song soon ended and Sakura took a little bow. Everyone stood up and clapped except for Sasuke who was staring at the floor and Karin who was pouting.
Sakura felt like a movie star.
"I had no idea you were that talented. Oh my goodness!" Mikoto hugged her and Sakura was startled. Did her boss really just hug her? Mikoto decided that they would end with Sakura's performance and told the girls they could stay as long as they like. Sakura, however, felt like she had over stayed her welcome so the four of them headed to Sakura's for the rest of the day.