It had been three months. Sakura's hands had grown callused and worn, her fingers used to the feel of the charger's wheel and throttle. Naruto had been master and coach through it all, leading her up to the point where she was able to get out of the flight simulator and use a real charger. Under Kakashi's watchful eye and Naruto's practiced hand, Sakura had blossomed into a hardened ITPR slave driver.

Right now, Sakura was one of the secret ITPR racecourses that the Imperial Houses used for their exploits. She was neither in a charger nor indeed, anywhere near the track. No, Sakura was in the box reserved for the Uchiha House, sitting alongside Sasuke's other teams, watching the first match of the ITPR season: Hyuuga House Minor vs. Yamanaka House. There were about seven teams on the ground, each with a pilot and monkey standing next to a charger, waiting for their masters to signal for the race to start.

Naruto handed Sakura a pair of binoculars and pointed to two boxes across the track from them. "Look, that's where the Houses in today's race will sit. See if you can see them."

Sakura twiddled the knob, trying to focus in on the boxes. Indeed, there was already someone in the box with the 'Yamanaka' kanji painted on the front: a girl with long blonde hair and flowers decorating her low-cut dress.

"That's Princess Ino?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded.

"Prince Neji should be showing up any minute," he said, pointing at the other box. Sakura focused on it. Sure enough, a long-haired, pale young man emerged into the box. He was uniquely handsome, though there was something strange about him that Sakura couldn't pinpoint. Then she hit on it.

"He's got no pupils!" she gasped. Naruto shrugged.

"All the Hyuuga are that way, it's a genetic trait they share."

"But…but…"

"Come on, Sakura, this isn't the Dark Ages," Naruto pointed out. "We have scientifically and genetically advanced, and with that comes things like odd and sometimes dangerous genetic traits. Hey, did you know that our Prince's eyes will turn red when he's angry or belligerent?"

"N-no…"

"That's one of the genetic traits of the Uchiha," Naruto said matter-of-factly. "There's a whole bunch more out there. I'm sure your hair" –he eyed Sakura's pink locks- "is the result of genetic variation."

"Don't dis the hair!" Sakura snapped, feeling pettish now. Suddenly the whole stadium went quiet. Down below, at the starting line, the pilots and monkeys were lined up besides their respective chargers, neat in rank and file. As one man, all six of the teams raised an arm and saluted the Hyuuga box, crying:

"Ave IMPERIALES, morituri te salutant! Ave Genus Hyuuga Minor!"

Prince Neji inclined his head slightly, as if to accept the hails of the teams. Sakura noticed the look of near reverence on one of the monkeys: she had brown hair that was up in two buns, and her warm eyes shone as they gazed at her prince.

The teams then turned to face the Yamanaka box, shouting their cry again.

"Ave Genus Yamanaka!"

"What are they saying?" Sakura murmured to Naruto. He shrugged.

"I was never any good with languages."

"It's a dead language." Both Sakura and Naruto swiveled in their seats to see Prince Sasuke seated higher up in the box. The other two Uchiha teams turned to face him as well. He gazed down at the track as he explained.

"The pilots are acknowledging their subservience to the IMPERIAL houses. Roughly translated, the phrase means: 'Hail, IMPERIALs! We who are about to die, salute you!' Today, it's Hyuuga Minor vs. Yamanaka, so they honor each house by name before the race."

The sudden revving of engines caused everyone in the Uchiha box to return to the racecourse. Sakura's mind churned.

How awful, having to chant that every time you race, she thought. It's so MENIAL, so crushing. And is the death rate for an ITPR race REALLY that high? High enough that they chant that they will die?

It was Sasuke, once again, who provided her with the answer. "Gladiators used to chant that before they fought in arenas," he said quietly. "It was the sport of the emperors, a long time ago, just as ITPR is today."

So that's it, Sakura thought bitterly. It's just to humilate us.

Down below, the signals were being given. Red light…yellow light…GO!

With a roar, the chargers were gone! Overhead, a small jet plane soared by, tracking the pods' progress. The jet had cameras on it, and every charger had a lightweight camera installed on the nose. A huge projector was showing the IMPERIALS and their teams the progress of the race between Yamanaka House and Hyuuga House Minor.

Trouble started almost immediately: one of the tailfins on one of Princess Ino's crafts began to waver, shivering violently in the slipstream. The pilot hadn't seemed to notice, or, if he had, he was ignoring it. The tailfin rattled, twisting back and forth…

The other chargers swerved to avoid the chunk of twisted metal that had just flown off of the Yamanaka pod. It spun out of control, leaving red sand clouds rising over the ground before a huge orange explosion filled the screens. One team down, five more in the race.

The crowd, seemingly unfazed by the recent death and explosion of a pilot and charger, returned its attention to the pods in front. Sakura, however, was shocked.

"Don't they care that someone just died out there!?" she exploded angrily. Naruto laid a hand on her arm.

"Sakura, these are the IMPERIAL houses. It's just a slave, they just buy another one. No one cares about their life in these races, the only point is to win."

"Right," Sakura gritted through her teeth, "right."

Blinded by her anger, Sakura didn't even notice the rest of the race. Her core was so burning with fury over the lost pilot that she didn't even notice who won. Hyuuga Minor took first place, while one of Princess Ino's teams took second. Ino had also taken third, while Prince Neji took fourth. The four teams who had won celebrated on the racecourse, while the team who had lost packed up in silence. Sakura noticed one monkey, a little girl, craning her neck to see if her pilot was coming down the course. Late, perhaps, but finishing nonetheless. Someone whispered to her, and the little monkey who had lost her pilot burst into tears, fleeing the course.

It's so cruel, Sakura thought once more.

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"Sakura?" Kakashi was at her suite door again. Sakura sighed and turned from the window.

"Yes, Kakashi?"

Kakashi opened the door, carrying something in his hand. "Prince Sasuke has requested your presence at the royal baths."

Sakura frowned. The BATHS??

"He also requested that you wear this." Kakashi showed her a two-piece white suit. Sakura shuddered.

"He wants me to wear THAT? Never!"

"Very well," Kakashi said grimly. "He told me to tell you, if that was the case, that you'd be joining him anyway – naked."

"I'll take the suit," Sakura said hastily, snatching it from Kakashi. Her green eyes sparked.

What on earth does this Prince want with me?

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Sorry this is kinda short, but I had a visit from the monthly evil curse of DOOM last night…so I feel like crap right now. So all my updates are gonna be really short or really BAD, because, like I said, I feel like total CRAP. That was probably TMI for you guys, eh? Oh, well…