I am Memories Faded, I have been very lazy and I do apologize and I do not own Naruto.

Playlist;

Earshot – Wait

Apocalyptica – I Don't Care

November

"I'm fine mom."

A sigh. "I don't know Sakura. I don't think that you should be playing such violent sports. You could get seriously hurt."

"It's nothing mom, really."

"I mean look at these bruises! You're lucky that they weren't serious!"

"It was worth it." And it was worth it. "We won the game." Not too far from the truth, she had won after all.

"Has your father talked to you about this yet?"

"No, he said I should talk to you about it."

Another sigh. Lips pursed tightly. Her mother would never accept her if she knew what kind of trouble Sakura was getting herself into. She was a conservative and as much as she loved her only child, it just wasn't in her to approve of what her daughter was secretly doing behind her back. Which was why Sakura needed to be extra careful to keep it a tightly kept secret.

But the woman wasn't letting up that easily. "Aren't I supposed to sign a paper or something?"

Sakura's heartbeat quickened, she hadn't thought about that.

"No, it isn't a school sport. So we never got one."

"I don't know Sakura. It sounds dangerous."

"Please mom? I'm such a valued player!" Pleading doe eyes. "And it makes me so happy."

"Is it going to interfere with your schoolwork?"

Of course, why should she be surprised, wasn't Sakura's academics all this woman cared about? Didn't she realize how much it suffocated her?

"No way Mom, you know I'd never let anything get in the way of my schoolwork." Her tone was innocent and the older woman smiled at her.

"I know." She said, opening her arms to give Sakura a tight hug. "That's my girl." The warm embrace of her mother surrounded her, pressing down on sensitive, fresh bruises. She winced but smiled nonetheless.

It felt like life was finally going to where she had worked so hard to get it. Every sacrifice she made was finally paying off.

If only it could have stayed that way.

Knuckle conditioning was as important as any part of training.

Which was part of the reason why Sakura had taken to wearing a pair of mock-leather fingerless gloves while in school. And even that didn't help the pain. It was only supposed to cover up the unsightly bruises so no one in school would become suspicious. It still hurt at the end of the day. Sakura's first fight had been on a Friday night, giving her two day to completely heal the dark marks that had been pounded onto her skin. Obviously that wasn't humanly possible. But it did give her enough time to figure out which foundations and concealers worked to hide them from other people's suspicious eyes.

If not for the judgment of others of others, Sakura wouldn't even try to hide her wounds. To her, bruises were like battle scars. Something to be proud of. Proof of her adventures, proof of her of glory.

Perfect grades on paper were just that, paper. What good would Sakura be out in the real world when all she had was booksmarts? Perfect grades in tests and homework didn't mean that she was smarter than anyone else, it just meant she had all the right answers. How did that prove that she was any different from everyone else?

You might have asked her why she didn't just join a school sport? Because any team she might have joined would never have let her shine as an individual. "There's no 'I' in team, Sakura." That was every coach's motto. Sakura would never get to be known as just herself. Even if she was talented enough to lead a team to some great victory, would the high school junior ever have all the spotlight to herself? Of course not. There was no way she could gain that kind of fame in a high school. Equally so there was no way a high school activity could pump her veins full of adrenaline like the feeling of fighting with only your bare fists and legs to rely on could. It was pretty simple, it's only the most dangerous things that make you feel life was worth living.

Maybe it came from some insecurity back in her childhood, maybe it was her personality.

"Sakura?"

If she wasn't in her fantasy world she was still trapped in her real world, school and homework.

"Can you read the next passage for you please?"

Sakura's teacher was giving her 'the eye.' That meant she knew Sakura hadn't been paying attention, but was choosing not to point her out to the class openly. It wasn't really the junior's fault. While most of her classmates spaced out because they didn't understand Dante's Inferno. Sakura spaced because it was too easy for her.

She cleared her throat.

"But turn your eyes to the valley; there we shall find

the river of boiling blood in which are steeped

all who struck down their fellow men." Oh blind!

Oh ignorant, self-seeking cupidity

which spurns us so in the short mortal life

ans steeps us so through all eternity!"

Sakura wondered maybe if it was not chance that was behind why she read this particular verse. Or was it only because she knew the similarities between herself and those who spent eternity rotting in the seventh level of Canto? The poet Dante Alighieri wrote that those who spent a lifetime of violence against his neighbor was doomed to spend eternity in the Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood. Those who spilled the blood of their fellow man would spend forever wallowing in it, immersed deeper depending on each individual's level of guilt. Would something along these lines ever happen to Sakura?

The teenager sighed and raked her fingers through her hair, barely listening as the rest of the verse was read by her classmates. What did it matter if some eternal punishment was waiting for her? She was alive now wasn't she? Shouldn't she be living while she had the chance? Over time the survival rate of man drops to zero, a memorable quote from one of her favorite books, (coincidentally enough, or maybe not) "Fight Club"

Didn't all roads lead to irony?

With no homework left to do. That night after dinner Sakura spent the evening with her dad.

Or more like, she sat next to her dad on the couch as he watched wrestling matches that made Sakura's fingers twitch in excitement. So she had to tear away her eyes every now and then to look over at him to make sure he didn't notice how enrapt she was by it.

The forty year old grunted and nodded his head as the more pale, larger male on the screen finally knocked over his opponent, a Hispanic rookie, and won the last round of the fight. Finally noticing her presence, her father turned and smiled at her. "Hey sweetie." He said, putting an arm around her shoulders in parental affection and kissing her on the top of her head. His can of Budweiser still in his other hand."No homework tonight?"

"No." She replied.

"Usually you have bucketloads of it." He chuckled with light humor. The junior just shrugged.

Sakura's father was always a bit more talkative and affectionate after a beer or two. He was a good man, he made a good living and took care of his family, he didn't drink more than twelve pack of alcohol every couple of weeks. The teen had never seen him shitfaced drunk except a couple times at Christmas parties. Tonight was probably just a long day for him. She couldn't even remember the last time that he had ever raised his voice at her. Maybe the time when they had been out shopping together and her younger child self had run away. Her father ended up having to search for her for over half an hour when he found her she was reading something she found in one of the toy aisles. That was years ago. Discipline was her mother's job.

Sakura couldn't help but think sometimes that he was whipped by her mother. And that was why he spent most of his weeknights on the couch in front of the television with a beer instead of in bed with his wife. He, just like his daughter, just needed to get away from Mrs. Haruno's control every now and again. She felt herself curl into her father's warm embrace, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I hope you never do anything crazy." Mr. Haruno said, gesturing to the television, which was showing a Girls Gone Wild commercial. Frequent during this time of night on this channel. Sakura wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I would hate to see my little Princess throw her life away. For something so stupid." Then he laughed. "But that's just crazy isn't it?"

Sakura opened her mouth, but closed it as she watched as her father turned his head back to the match.

"Yeah," she muttered, mostly to herself. "That would be crazy."

Maybe she should spend more time with her dad more often. He would probably be more understanding of her nighttime activites than her mother ever would.