Just Call Me Cinderella

Chapter Twelve

Naruto laughed hysterically as the sounds from a video game grew increasingly louder. Sasuke groaned and rolled so he faced the back of the couch. The couch? Sasuke shot up and looked around wildly. He suddenly remembered that he had fallen asleep holding Sakura in his arms. The smell of her floral scented shampoo still filled his senses.

He grabbed the sides of his head and tried to shake the image out. What was he doing? Was he really falling for the weird, pink-haired girl? Impossible. They were too different and she had something against him since he apparently had broken her heart without even knowing it.

He had a smoking hot girlfriend.

Okay, she was more annoying than anything and she only really cared about him because he was good looking and rich. But he was taken nonetheless.

But Sakura was different and he couldn't help treating her different. He loved the way she acted when he was nicer to her way more than when he was rude. He just didn't know how to build any sort of friendship with her. He was so confused by everything.

"You're up."

Sasuke turned to look behind him. Itachi was sitting in his recliner with Shisui next to him. The two of them were chatting and watching Naruto and Sai play some game.

"What time is it?"

"Almost nine. You slept like a rock last night."

Sasuke didn't say anything but moved to stand up and head upstairs to shower and change. He felt weird all of the sudden and needed to get out of the room. It was making him think about Sakura entirely too much.

"Oh, little brother, I texted you a picture I took last night. I think you'll like it."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow and decided that Itachi was just being cryptic like always and ignored him. He walked up the stairs and almost bumped into a small maid with brown hair.

"Oh my goodness! Master Sasuke I am so sorry!" Her statement started out actually apologetic but it turned weirdly sultry at the end. Sasuke rolled his eyes and rudely pushed past her. "Of course. You won't look at any of us as long as you're doing that slut."

Sasuke stopped in his tracks. He was sure that he wasn't supposed to hear that but he had. He turned to face the maid again but her back was to him and she was descending the steps.

"Stop."

Daisy immediately froze. Her eyes were wide but she didn't turn to look at Sasuke. She was too afraid.

"Were you just bad mouthing my girlfriend?"

"No sir."

"Were you talking about someone else?"

There was a long pause were Daisy didn't answer him. "No sir."

"Good. I would thank you to stay out of my personal affairs. Oh, and Mei will be hearing about this."

With that he turned on his heel and stormed into his room. His already dark mood was souring by the second. He threw open his door and ran into his own laundry basket. Clothes tumbled out and spilled all over him and the floor.

"Great. Just freaking great." Sasuke looked at the ceiling for a second before he turned his gaze down to give the maid a piece of his mind. But he stopped.

It was Sakura.

Just the sight of her after spending the night holding her made his blood race and his heart speed up. He swallowed harshly.

"I am so sorry Sasuke. I did not mean to run into you. I was just cleaning up your room."

Sasuke didn't make any noise in acknowledgment and moved around her. He knew that she understood him enough now to know that he wasn't mad at her.

He grabbed his phone from where it was charging next to his bed and looked through his messages. There was twelve messages from Karin. She apparently had wanted to go out last night but he hadn't answered. So she was coming over at ten to spend the whole day with him. He sighed and responded that he couldn't wait to see her.

He also had a message from Itachi. Oh, right. There was some picture that Itachi sent him. Though he couldn't imagine what sort of picture that he would enjoy unless it was a picture of Naruto looking stupid. Sasuke smirked as he pulled the picture up. He definitely needed more blackmail on that idiot.

The picture loaded to reveal him, Sakura, Naruto, and Sai all snuggling on the same couch. Sasuke was holding Sakura so tightly that it looked like they were puzzle pieces fitted together. Naruto was laying comfortably on Sakura's other side and Sai looked somehow stoic as always even in his sleep.

"Are you all right Sasuke? You seem a little shocked. Did something happen?" Sasuke had forgotten that Sakura was in the room but he decided that since she was part of the photo she could see it.

"Itachi sent me a picture. Come here."

She obeyed and moved a little cautiously toward him. He held his phone out to her and she took it skeptically. Her eyes widened as soon as she saw what was on the screen.

"Oh! Um. . . wow. . . we all look. . . cozy." Sakura tried to laugh it off but he could see the blush on her cheeks and the nervousness in her demeanor.

"Yeah, we do."

"Well, you better not let Karin see this. She would definitely have my head." Sakura winked but there was something in her expression that he couldn't read. She was normally so open. "Is there anything you need from me this morning?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"Okay then, I'm off to check on Obito and Rin."

Sakura walked out of the room and Sasuke collapsed on his bed. He quickly saved the photo to his phone and then stared at the ceiling. What was even happening any more?

"So then Ami thought it would be a good idea to make out with this loser named Kankuro. Literally the only good thing about him is the fact that he's a college student at the University of Suna. Oh, and I guess his tattoos. But she was all over him. Like seriously? Pick someone better. Heck, I'd rather she'd make out with Sui or something."

Sasuke was trying his hardest to tune Karin out. She had been talking nonstop for the last forty minutes and hadn't really noticed that he was just nodding and occasionally going "mhm." He was taking care of some homework that he had to finish. He was planning on doing it last night but had been coerced into a movie since his idiot best friend and his parents were there for the week.

He was thinking about last night again. It was the middle of the afternoon and it seemed like his thoughts kept drifting to the moment that he had first put the blanket around Sakura and she had moved closer and closer to him until he could hold her.

Stop right there. Just stop.

"Then Sui looks at me and tells me that his cousin Kisame was coming in town for Thanksgiving and they are planning on eating seafood and going swimming. Like what? Who even celebrates Thanksgiving like that? How are my aunt and uncle? They're spending the week with you guys right?"

Sasuke suddenly realized she had asked him a question and shut his math book. "Yep. Since Obito and Rin are in town they wanted to spend as much time together as possible."

"I bet Kushina is still as crazy as ever. Can you believe that we even come from the same family? I think that every time I look at Naruto."

Sasuke didn't say anything and just stared out the window. Was Karin ever going to stop talking today? He knew that she was planning to spend all day with him since tomorrow he would be with family all day but she was just too grating. Maybe it was time for him to do something about it.

"Karin, stop talking."

Karin immediately shut her mouth and turned her agitated face to look somewhere else. He knew she was fuming but he needed a few minutes to just think. He had been dating Karin since August but she had lost any appeal other than physically in the last month. Why was he still pretending that he wanted to date her? In the past he had no problem tossing whatever girl he was currently with away as soon as he was bored.

But this time it was deeper. He was afraid. Afraid that the reason he was over her was because he was falling in love with someone else. Someone who was so different from anyone else he had been with. He pulled out his phone discreetly and looked at the photo that Itachi had texted him. They looked so comfortable there in each other's arms. His gaze stayed on Sakura in his arms too long.

"What is that?" Venom dripped from Karin's voice and he looked up to see her enraged red eyes looking at his phone. Oh crap. He had sort of forgotten she was here since she had finally stopped talking.

"A picture."

"Sasuke don't screw with me. Why do you have a picture of you snuggling that pink haired whore?" Steam was practically coming from her ears now.

"We were watching a movie and happened to fall asleep like that. Nothing happened." He rolled his eyes at her antics but he himself was trying process what this even was and the annoying feeling in his stomach.

Karin stood up suddenly and grabbed her purse from its spot on the floor. "Fine. You know what? I haven't even seen you for like a week and now this? Tell you what." She turned to face him fully. "Let's take a break for a few weeks. Let's pick back up in two weeks. That should give you enough time to figure your crap out. You know you'll miss this."

Karin gave him a sultry, angry smile and practically ran from the room. He heard the front door slam and sighed. At least that was one thing he didn't need to think about for the next two weeks. He had no doubt that in two weeks she would come back to him and they would pick up where they left off. Sakura was just a minor distraction. That was all. He had just not seen Karin in so long and Sakura was there to fill the void.

At least that was what he hoped.

"Why are you still here?" Sasuke snapped at Naruto as he cleaned up the mess they had made last night watching movies.

"Because my parents and I are staying here for the whole holiday, remember? You can't be that stupid." Naruto threw a pillow at him that he expertly dodged. Sasuke didn't say anything and continued to pick up trash and blankets.

"Why are you cleaning the movie room? You've never cared before." A mischievous smile spread across Naruto's face.

"Stop. I'm cleaning up because I'm bored and have nothing better to do. Plus, I hear Madara is running the entire maid staff ragged."

"Are you sure it has nothing to do with a certain pink-haired maid? You're not trying to help lighten her load are you?" This time Naruto raised his eyebrows a few times.

"No, idiot, I'm not." Sasuke rolled his eyes. What was with everyone recently trying to get him to think about Sakura? Yes she was pretty and sweet and smart and a bunch of other things but she was not his type.

"I thought Karin was going to be here today. I was planning on entertaining myself." Naruto finished arranging some pillows and flopped onto the couch.

"We're taking a break."

Naruto perked up. "A break? Why?"

"She saw the picture Itachi texted last night and freaked out. She thinks that it was more than innocent and she thinks that if we are split up for two weeks I'll be practically begging for her to come back."

Naruto was silent as he processed all the information. "I see. That picture was pretty interesting wasn't it? It looks like we're all just so comfy and cozy." Sasuke nodded. "Well, I'm sure you'll figure things out in two weeks."

"There's nothing to figure out."

Sasuke finished folding the last blanket and moved up the stairs to put them back in the linen closet next to the theater room. Sakura was placing a few items neatly on the shelves and he took a moment to observe her. She was small and thin but not too short. She wasn't particularly curvy but she also wasn't just a flat rail. Her pony tail bounced every time she moved. He smiled slightly at that and leaned against the door.

Sakura was definitely different than any other girl that he had been interested in before but even if he was interested there was no way she would ever reciprocate. He had hurt her in the past. Something that he was desperately hoping to remember. There was no way that he had been close enough to her before for him to hurt her without him remembering her. Unless. . . unless it was in that year. Sasuke shook his head of that dark time. That wasn't the only reason Sakura would never reciprocate.

He was also tainted goods with a bad attitude and a cold demeanor. It was a wonder he ever dated or had friends. Some girls liked the cold and unapproachable hottie type. Usually they were girls like Karin that slept around and had filthy mouths that loved to spout off gossip at the drop of a hat.

Sasuke needed someone with more substance. Someone that cared more about their intelligence and the world around them than about what color Kin wore to Homecoming. He needed someone who could look at him and read his emotions through his eyes. Who could stand by him no matter the mood swings. But no one like that would ever look at him as more than a beautiful playboy.

He sighed and waited for Sakura to shut the closet before he moved forward and placed the blankets inside. This house suddenly felt so stifling. He needed to get out.

Sasuke's feet hit the pavement in a continuous rhythm. He used the music he was listening to to keep his movements moving forward. After spending too much time thinking about Sakura he had quickly changed into some clothes and promptly booked it out the door. He ran all the way to Hokage mountain.

He stopped to catch his breath once he reached the top. His breath puffed out in wide bursts and he cursed himself for not realizing that it was basically winter outside. Running in such cold weather was not something he liked to do. He rubbed his gloved hands together a few times and then took a seat on top of the third Hokage's head.

When had his life gotten so weird? When had his focus shifted from his studies and pleasing his parents to being wrapped up in two girls? Why did he care so much? Weren't guys not supposed to really care about these things?

Sasuke groaned and laid back so he could look at the clouds. The cold wind blew across his face but he hardly noticed. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He needed to think more clearly about this and he needed to stop internally punishing himself before he ever actually accepted what was going on.

He liked Sakura.

Plain and simple.

He had only really started seeing her after she spent the night at his house when it was her father's birthday and he couldn't help but keep thinking about all the complexities of her. She had depth and was feisty. Yet she also seemed so insecure and innocent.

Everything made him think about her. He'd see the color pale pink out of the corner of his eye and he'd turn. He'd walk past the choir room on the way to one of his classes and he'd think back to Sakura's beautiful voice. He'd done extremely well on his test after her help and he thought about her every time he studied. Sasuke wanted nothing more than to tell her when he had passed the test. He always thought about what he might do in a difficult situation and he would stare at her laughing with her friends at lunch.

Sasuke had fallen deeper than he had realized.

Sasuke stretched his arms and sat up to look out over the city. He was dating Karin but he didn't want to be. His relationship with her was one hundred percent based off the fact that they were the hottest in the school and it was only a matter of time before something had happened. But he wasn't planning for it to go longer than a few weeks. Yet here he was months later.

Sasuke stood up and made his way slowly down the mountain and back towards his home. The sun was going down now and he knew it would be getting even colder. But, he had finally been honest with himself. Now that he had accepted it he was going to see what was going to happen in the next two weeks. Maybe he would grow closer to Sakura and his decision was going to basically be made for him?

Sasuke shook his head and smirked at the prospect. For the first time in his life he had a nervous excitement in his stomach because of a girl and he couldn't believe it.