Just Call Me Cinderella

Chapter Fourteen

Thanksgiving had ended with Sakura eating too much pie and having a lot of fun watching everyone play games. Her arm was hurting too much for her to actually participate so at one point she was on Naruto's team so he could play for her. She had a lot of fun but turned in earlier than everyone else.

Sasuke carried her back to her room with Rin trailing behind to make sure that Sakura could get ready for bed and take her medicine. When Sasuke had first entered the living room carrying her everyone pretended not to really notice but Sakura could a see a few smirks around the room. Particularly on Itachi and Naruto's faces. She had blushed darkly, and when she told him she was wanting to go to bed and he dutifully picked her up, her blush returned a hundred fold.

After struggling into her pajamas and laying down sleep would not come. Sakura turned on her TV to some Christmas movie marathon and fell asleep eventually once her mind stopped thinking about the fact that she was in love with Sasuke. She woke up around five in the morning when she heard a large group of people leave the house. Mikoto, Kushina, and Rin were on their way to go shopping. They had convinced Izumi to go with them last night.

Sakura frowned and readjusted. She had wanted to go but she was in no condition to walk around and she definitely would be no fun to shop with today. She had to text Ino that she couldn't accompany her to a few stores like she was planning to. She expected Tenten, Hinata, and Ino to stop by at some point today.

After sleeping for a few more hours Sakura decided that it was probably time to try to take a bath. She was told that she couldn't get her burn wet but that she could still bathe. She turned on the tub and slipped in as soon as the water was low enough to not reach her burn.

Washing her body around her burn wasn't too bad but trying to wash her hair was the worst. Sakura huffed and almost threw the sponge she had used against the bathroom wall. Eventually she deemed herself clean enough and dried off. emNow to put on some type of clothing./em She hadn't really brought any real clothes with her. She had brought a few outfits just in case but most of her stuff was too hard to put on. Rin had placed a few items of hers in the closet that were easy to wear.

Sakura grabbed a simple pair of leggings and an oversized sweater that Rin had put in the closet. It was insanely comfortable and did not rub against her bandages. She topped the look with some fuzzy socks and limped her way into the hallway. The sweater fell off her shoulder a bit but most of her exposed skin was covered in bandages so she decided to ignore it.

The maids, that weren't burnt to a crisp, and the butlers were all running around cleaning everything they could or pulling out heavy boxes from the various storage spaces in the house. It was time to start decorating for Christmas and Sakura was genuinely sad that she wouldn't be able to help with a lot of the heavy decorating. She was looking forward to do that in such a large and grand house.

Sakura sighed as she reached the kitchen. There were various items laid out for breakfast for the family but she still felt weird pretending to be one so she made her way to the cupboard and grabbed some cereal that she knew was reserved for the maids. She took a seat at the counter and slowly started eating. Her burns were starting to hurt and she knew it was around the time to take her medicine but she knew that Rin was still out shopping. Who would be taking care of her today?

A loud commotion sounded out in the front and Sakura jumped, almost dropping her spoon. It sounded like Naruto was having one of his fits. Sakura slowly walked out with her bowl being supported in her left hand until she could find a chair. Her arm was screaming. Naruto ran into several rooms and slammed several doors. Sasuke rolled his eyes behind him. Sakura giggled at the weirdness of it all.

Naruto abruptly stopped and turned to look at her. "Sakura! Oh thank goodness! I thought you had disappeared. Sasuke is supposed to give you your medicine this morning. But you weren't in your room."

"Oh, I wondered who took over for Rin today. Sorry, I was trying to be self sufficient." Sakura blushed and looked down to her ankle that was throbbing. She had tried to walk without limping and was regretting it.

"Are you in pain?" Sasuke's question took her off guard and she took a moment to answer by eating a bit of her cereal.

"A little bit."

He nodded and handed her the right amount of pills. She took them, thanked him, and continued to eat her cereal as she watched the maids and butlers move around in a frenzy. She finished eating and Naruto stole her bowl.

"I'll take that back to the kitchen."

"What, why?"

"Because you're coming with me."

Sasuke picked her up easily and carried her to the main room. There was a giant artificial tree standing in the middle of the room and light Christmas music was playing from somewhere she couldn't determine.

"My mother will be home soon and she always helps decorate the tree. We will all be in here so I figured you'd want to watch."

"Thanks Sasuke. That is really kind of you."

Sasuke took a seat to the left of where he perched her and started sorting through ornaments that were sitting on the table. Itachi entered the room followed by all the other guests. They all began moving around the room getting things ready and in what felt like minutes Mikoto, Kushina, and Rin returned from their shopping trip with Izumi. She looked a little traumatized but still smiling.

Naruto burst into the room soon after holding a blushing Hinata's hand. Sakura's eyes widened at the fact that he had brought her to a family gathering but then she was excited that he was serious about dating her and wanted everyone to meet her.

"Hey, do you mind scooting over?" Itachi smiled sweetly at Sakura. He had Izumi behind him and they wanted to squeeze onto the couch. Sakura looked and realized that Sasuke had placed her basically in the middle of the couch. She figured it would be okay to move closer to him. Though with her recent revelation she was nervous.

Sakura placed her arms tentatively on the couch and moved to place her weight and move to the side. Pain shot up her arm and before she could react Sasuke reached over and pulled her so she was almost sitting on his lap. Sakura blushed at his actions but ignored him as Itachi and Izumi sat on the couch. Sasuke's arm was on the back of the couch and Sakura hoped it would stay there.

Mikoto and Kushina started placing things on the tree and several of the others moved to help. Sasuke and Itachi watched as everyone else decorated the house.

"Why aren't you helping?"

Sakura nudged Sasuke in the side and he gently stopped her with his hand.

"My mom is very particular where certain things go. She'll want me to put the star on the top since I'm the tallest so I usually just wait until everything else is done. Itachi is just sitting out so he's not in the way since we have so many people this year."

Sasuke spoke quietly so Sakura leaned over so she could hear. His hand was still holding her arm from where he stopped her prodding. She could feel his warmth and she hoped he wouldn't let go. Okay, now she was having conflicting emotions. First she didn't want him to touch her now she wanted him to touch her.

She ignored her own inner debate and leaned back against the couch but much closer to Sasuke. Sakura was suddenly very tired. Her nights had not been very rest filled since she was burned. She usually got a good few hours but then she would turn the wrong way and the pain would ignite under her skin. Plus, she was paranoid that Kimiko and Daisy were going to sneak into her room and do more damage. That thought had her up for hours.

Sasuke unconsciously rubbed up and down Sakura's arm and she started to close her eyes. It was comfortable and safe here inbetween the two Uchiha boys and in a room full of laughter and Christmas. The only thing missing was her mom and maybe some more of her friends.

Sakura cracked her eyes opened and watched as Naruto helped Hinata place an ornament on a high branch of the tree. It was so sweet how he was attentive to her. Naruto was usually an awkward idiot but when it came to Hinata he was always so sweet and caring. Sakura was tired of feeling jealous of Hinata and Naruto. They were so happy and had found each other and here she was pining after some jerk that had already broken her heart and currently had a terrible girlfriend.

Sasuke shifted beside her and soon she felt the weight of his other arm on her shoulders. He pulled her minutely closer. Sakura's eyes drifted closed again and in minutes she was fast asleep snuggled up against Sasuke. There was just something comforting about him to her. The fact that they were not particularly close but he wanted to help her heal by taking care of her and carrying her made her heart light on fire.

Sakura was able to sleep for around fifteen minutes but the tree was soon finished except for the star. Mikoto turned to ask Sasuke to put the final touch on the tree and was pleasantly surprised to see Sakura fast asleep in his arms. A soft smile broke out on Mikoto's face at the scene. She hoped that both her boys would date women who were good and able to support and build them up. Not girls like Karin.

Sasuke noticed his mother's attention on him and everyone in the room turning to look at him as well. Naruto was smirking and Rin had stars in her eyes. He fought the urge to roll his eyes at the reaction of everyone in the room. He gently leaned down and shook Sakura. She blinked a few times and slowly sat up. She grimaced as she shifted into a good position.

"Are you okay?"

Sakura nodded and then finally opened her eyes fully. Her eyes widened and she gasped at all the beautiful decorations that filled the room. It was a sparkling Christmas wonderland and she was awed by the twinkling lights.

"I have to put the star up." Sakura realized that she was leaning against his arm and moved so he could pull his arm out. The minute he stood up she missed his warmth. She watched as he gingerly picked up the star that was actually a Uchiha fan and with ease placed it on top of the tree.

Everything could not be more perfect in this moment.

The front door slammed and Sakura jumped from her spot on the couch.

"Um, are you expecting someone volatile? I thought that Madara was in a good mood this week?" Ino asked as she shoved some popcorn in her mouth.

"Not that I know of."

"Maybe we should check it out?" Tenten raised her eyebrows and looked around at the other girls that were all sitting on Sakura's bed. Tenten and Ino had decided to stop by after lunch since Hinata was already here. They wanted to check in on Sakura.

"I'm in." Sakura was shocked by the mischievous look on Hinata's face as she answered.

"Ditto."

"Fine." Sakura rolled her eyes as she moved to kick her feet off the bed. "But you losers have to help me walk otherwise this will take a million years."

Tenten took Sakura's right arm and wrapped it around her shoulder as Ino and Hinata followed. The three of them walked quietly and slowly through several of the hallways until they found the boys in the living room. The only difference was Suigetsu and Juugo were sitting on the floor and Karin was standing in front of Sasuke. Naruto, Sai, and Neji looked like they were trying to avert their eyes.

"YOU'RE BREAKING UP WITH ME? WHY? YOU KNOW I'M THE BEST YOU'RE EVER GOING TO GET IN THIS SCHOOL." Karin was pissed. What even was happening right now? Sakura turned to look at Ino was also very confused. Sasuke very calmly responded.

"Karin, you and I know full well that neither of us really like the other. We were just using each other for sex and because we were a power couple. I just realized that I've actually been interested in someone else for a while now so I need to pursue that. Don't you get it? What we were was fun at first but it's different now."

Karin's mouth dropped. She ran out the door screaming "SCREW YOU SASUKE UCHIHA" the whole way. The front door slammed shut and there was silence in the room.

"That was harsh dude." Suigestsu spoke from his spot on the floor. Sasuke merely shrugged.

"It was the truth. We were supposed to be taking a break for the next two weeks but there was no reason to be waiting that long to break up when I realized what I wanted."

Ino pulled on Sakura's shirt and the four of them scurried out of the room and into the hallway.

"Oh my gosh! Did you just see what happened? Who do you think that he's interested in?" Ino was holding onto Hinata's shoulders shaking her. Tenten let go of Sakura and pried Ino's fingers off.

"Ino, I'm sure she saw the whole thing. Everyone did. You're going to kill her if you keep shaking her." Ino laughed sheepishly and readjusted her ponytail.

"I really do wonder who it is though. She has to be something special if he said that in front of all his friends." Tenten looked thoughtfully down at the ground.

Sakura nervously played with her hands. Her heart pumped a mile a minute. For the first time in her life she was hopeful that something good would happen to her. But at the same time she was dreading that Sasuke could be thinking of her romantically. She couldn't date him. It was so against everything she had thought going into this job. She was here to work and nothing else. She would be such a hypocrite.

Not to mention if Sasuke did like her what would happen if Daisy and Kimiko found out? Sakura looked behind around her friends to make sure there was no one lurking in the shadows. Ino met her gaze and furrowed her eyebrows. Sakura changed her face into a small smile and hoped that Ino missed her nervousness.

"Well I think to all of you who I like should be obvious."

Sasuke joined the girls in the hallway flanked by all the guys. Everyone looked at him quizzically except for Naruto who had a dopey smirk on his face. Sasuke walked over and leaned against the wall right next to Sakura and gently slid his arm around her waist. She started to blush but then came to her senses and moved out of his grasp the best she could with her ankle. This was too fast and there was no way anything could happen between them.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Ino almost screamed out her excitement. Tenten's eyes widened and she kept looking inbetween Sasuke's hand that had retreated to his side and Sakura's blushed face.

"Sakura? You like Sakura?" Neji was the next to find his voice. Sasuke just nodded his head and everyone stared dumbfounded at the two.

Sakura awkwardly coughed to clear her throat. "Okay, well. . . now that that's out in the open that's. . . good." She turned to make her way down the hall back to her room. Her ankle throbbed as she practically ran and her cheeks were too hot from all the blushing. A few tears streamed down her face and she caught the angry face of Daisy in the kitchen but with amazing willpower Sakura ignored her. Hinata followed her but Tenten and Ino stood like statues for a few minutes before they too ran off down the hall.

Sakura sat panting on her bed. Tears flowed freely down her face now. She wasn't sure what she was crying for. It must have been a combination of things. Her ankle and burns hurt, she was embarrassed by Sasuke saying that he liked her in front of all of their friends, and she knew that even though he liked her and she liked him, she couldn't date him. There was too much history and too many things that would keep them divided. Sakura could not handle anymore surprises this year.

Hinata sat next to her on the bed and pulled Sakura's head to rest on her shoulder. Sakura's body shook and she cried harder. This had been the weirdest Thanksgiving week for her and she could not wait for it to be over. She needed the normalcy of school or something. Anything to distract her. She was terrified of her newfound feelings and terrified of Sasuke's. She was terrified of Daisy an Kimiko and terrified that she would end up heartbroken and crying in her bedroom for hours on end again.

She needed to get away from the Uchihas.

"Forehead, talk to us. What's up?" Ino knelt in front of Sakura on the floor and Tenten sat against the wall. The concern on their faces was obvious.

"Its just all too much."

"Do you like him?" Ino asked shyly. She knew better than anyone what Sakura had gone through.

Sakura merely nodded. "But it doesn't matter. I can't date him. There's just too many factors and. . ."

"And?" Tenten sat forward a little bit.

"Nothing. It's nothing."

There was silence as Sakura composed herself and the others waited for her to say something.

"Do you guys want to go down to the tree lighting in downtown? I need to get out of here."

"Of course! Do you want us to invite anyone else?" Ino knew that Sakura liked having Naruto around when she was sad and honestly Sai had become really comforting to her in the last few years as well.

"Naruto and Sai."

"I'm on it." Hinata stood up and made her way to ask the guys to come with them discreetly so Sasuke wouldn't want to tag along. He was the last person Sakura needed to see right now.

Some time away from the mansion was exactly what Sakura needed. She needed to walk around in the brisk November air and look in all the shops selling their Christmas wares. Sakura also really needed to see the lights. Downtown looked like a fairy garden and it helped Sakura think about happier memories than Sasuke's bold confession.

Naruto carried Sakura on his back for part of their tour of downtown and she laughed hysterically as he ran around like an idiot. He always knew how to cheer her up when she was thinking too hard. Sakura genuinely felt better when she got back to the mansion for the night.

Ino, Tenten, and Sai all headed home and Naruto dropped her off at her room so he could take Hinata home. Sakura was looking forward to climbing into bed and watching a cheesy Christmas movie until she fell asleep. She heard laughter coming from the living room but decided that she didn't really feel up to interacting with more people. Rin had texted her that her medicine was sitting on the nightstand and she could take it when she got home.

Sakura opened her bedroom door and dropped her phone on the floor. There was fabric everywhere. All of her clothing items were shredded. All the clothes that belonged to Rin were missing and there was something red stained all over what used to be her maid's uniform. Sakura took small steps until she reached the uniform. In paint was one word: WHORE.

Sakura didn't cry this time. She had cried all she had left earlier. She simply bunched the clothes up and moved them to the trashcan in her bathroom. It was too small so she dumped them into the bathtub. She would deal with this tomorrow. She took her medicine and crawled into her covers. There was no Christmas movie in the world that could make her feel better tonight.