Just Call Me Cinderella

Chapter Three

A/N:

This chapter is a little rough and short! Apologies!

The rest of the first month of school went by fairly quickly. Sakura just went to school and worked. She always felt like she was exhausted but she knew that it was good. Her grades were still high and she still managed to see her friends. But it was now the first week of October and Sakura was nervous.

Today was her father's birthday.

Sakura woke up at six am and made her way to get dressed. Today she worked her normal seven to seven shift. Her mom had the weekend off and had headed to Sakura's grandparents. She didn't want to be alone in their house and Sakura understood that. Sakura quickly changed and headed out the door. She had grown to love the early morning walk to the Uchiha mansion where she could just relax and think about everything. But not today.

Today she walked as fast as she could. She didn't want to think. She didn't want herself to get caught up in what today was. She needed to work.

Soon she was upstairs and had already finished cleaning the bathrooms. Right now she was in the process of vacuuming the last room on the top floor. To be honest, because she had been so bent on getting to work and getting busy she was basically done and it was only ten o'clock in the morning. Sakura finished the room and then returned the vacuum to the closet.

Her phone started vibrating and she looked down to see it was her mom. She had time to take her break so she answered.

"Hey mom."

Her mom sniffled. "Hey honey. I know you're working today but I just wanted to tell you that I love you and that if you need anything today just ask me, okay?"

"Okay." Sakura tried to be emotionless but she could feel a little bit of the sadness she had been ignoring coming out.

"You're father recorded a message for you that I forgot to leave at home. So I'll play it for you now." Sakura waited nervous to hear what he had left her.

"Hey sweetheart! I just want to let you know that I love you and I hope you know how proud I am of you. I understand that school is hard but I want you to keep up on your studies. Make sure you keep perfecting that angelic voice of yours. I'll be looking down at you just so I can hear you sing. Also, I know I always said I didn't want you to date but sweetie, make sure you find a guy that will treat you like a princess and take care of you. You deserve only the best. I love you so much honey."

A few tears ran down Sakura's cheek but she kept her composure so she could speak to her mother. "Thank you so much mom. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye." Her mom hung up and Sakura stared down at her phone. Her background was of her and her dad at one of her choir concerts.

The dam finally broke.

Sakura's whole body convulsed with the power of her sobs. She couldn't stop no matter what. She wasn't sure she had ever cried this hard in the past. She had always tried to keep calm and composed. Only shedding a few tears. Unless she was alone or with her mom would she cry a little more. But now? Hearing his words, looking at his face, and knowing that it was his special day and she couldn't hold him or hug him was too much.

Sakura was still in the hallway of the mansion. She fell to the floor and held her knees as her sobs got worse and worse. She couldn't breathe but she didn't care. She had held all of her sadness, all of her hurt, and all of her missing him inside and now she was letting it out.

Gentle, strong arms wrapped around her and she dug her face into his chest. She could tell from the ponytail that it was Itachi that had found her. Thank Goodness! She cried for ten more minutes with his arms around her. But eventually she stopped and sat up. She wiped her nose and her eyes and tried to focus on the person sitting in front of her.

"Saku, what's wrong?" The concern in his eyes and his voice were exactly like a brother and she needed that right now more than anything.

"Today's his birthday and I just. . . couldn't hold any of it back anymore." She could tell Itachi knew exactly who she was talking about. He put his hand under her chin and tilted her to look at him.

"You need to go home."

"No!" She had shouted with more force than she had planned but started crying again. "I need to work. I don't want to think about it. I can't go there and be alone there. It's not home anymore without him. Please." She looked up at him with tear filled eyes.

"Fine. You'll stay here but you're not going to work. I'll get it squared away with Mei. Come with me. I know the best place for you to relax." He held out his hand to her and stood up. She took it and he led her downstairs to a room next to the theater room. It was full of comfy couches but the one side of the wall was nothing but windows. They looked out into the gardens full of vegetation and there was a little lake behind their house. Sakura's eyes widened and she gasped. This was the most relaxing place she had ever been in. He was right.

Itachi smiled and told her to sit on the couch. "Is there anyone that you might want around to talk to or anything?"

"My best friend Ino."

"Okay." Itachi reached over and took Sakura's phone out of her pocket. "You rest here for a little while and I'll go call her. I'll get some tea ready for you as well." He stood up to leave but Sakura put her arms around him.

"Thank you Itachi. You're so good to me. You're like the brother I never had." He smiled.

"Maybe that's because you're like the little sister I never had." He patted her head and then left the room shutting the door behind him.

Sakura leaned into the couch and looked out over the expansive landscape. She watched birds fly and the breeze gently blow through the trees. Some of the windows were open so she too could feel the breeze. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She missed her father so much. Crying like that had actually made her feel better. It also made her feel better to hear his voice again and to hear how proud he was of her. Would he still be proud of her if he knew that she was maid? She shook that thought from her head and instead thought back to all of their happy memories before the cancer took over.

Ding Dong! Sasuke stood next to the door so he grabbed it before the butler could. He opened it a bit forcefully and was surprised to find Ino standing in front of him.

"Do we have a science project or something that I forgot about?" Ino laughed and he instantly calmed down. So that was a no. Then why was she here?

"No stupid. I'm here to see Sakura."

Sasuke's brows furrowed. "Sakura?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you know my best friend. The girl with the pink hair. She's a maid here." Sasuke just continued to look at her confused. "Anyway, Itachi called me so where is she?"

Sasuke looked lost. He literally had no idea who she was talking about and he definitely didn't know where Itachi was keeping her or why Ino had come to see her. Why was it that he had no idea what was happening in his own house?

"Ah, Ino! She's in the family room. Come with me." Itachi had surfaced out of nowhere and grabbed Ino and taken her off. Sasuke quietly followed. He wanted to know what was up. Itachi made small talk with Ino while they walked. Sasuke was busy trying to remember a pink haired maid. Oh yeah! She's the dumb one I caught when she fell off that ladder. He smirked. Maybe Ino was here because she'd gotten injured.

Itachi opened the door and the pink haired girl turned to look. She immediately erupted in tears.

Oh sweetie. I know it hurts. I am so sorry that I didn't think to come see you sooner. But don't worry I'm here now and Hinata and Tenten said that they'll be by later too. What about your mom?" Ino was cooing as she wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulders. What the crap is going on?

"My mom went to my grandparents for the weekend. She won't be back until Monday." Ino kept rubbing the girl's back.

"Do you want me to stay over then?" The girl furiously shook her head.

"I can't be there this weekend it'll be too hard. Your house?" Ino sat up and looked apologetically at the girl.

"No can do my parents are having a business dinner. Hinata's parents are out of town, and Tenten's mom is sick. It has to be your place." Sakura looked let down and stared out the window.

"No, you guys can all just stay here." Both girls turned to look wide eyed at Itachi. Sasuke's usually emotionless face was shocked.

"Really? Oh Itachi! You seriously are the best!" Sakura leapt up and threw her arms around him. He started to laugh.

"I always wondered what it would be like to have a little sister having a sleepover and now I know." Sakura smiled and went back to sit with Ino and Itachi turned to make the proper preparations. Sasuke followed him staring questioningly.

"Before you ask brother, I think of her like a sister. I wouldn't expect you to understand but we've bonded. Anyway, today is her father's birthday and it's really hard on her so I thought why not let her stay the night? Mother adores her as well so I'm sure she'll be okay with it. She always wanted a girl in the house." He smiled and looked at Sasuke.

"Why is her father's birthday so hard for her?" He was a little miffed that this invisible girl and her annoying friends (who for some reason were his friends) were going to be staying the night.

"Because he died in August." Itachi answered matter of factly and headed up to his mother's room to discuss what had just happened. Sasuke was frozen to the spot he was standing on at the bottom of the stairs. He couldn't believe that he was heartless enough that he didn't know she was suffering. She just always smiled so he figured everything was okay.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Karin appeared and pulled Sasuke all the way to the movie room. They settled into a recliner together and she put in some chick flick called "The Last Song" that he really didn't pay attention to. Well, except the fact that the girl's dad died from cancer. Karin sobbed into his chest but all he could think about what the pink haired maid next door was doing.