"Damnit Charles, why are you stopping?" the angry voice of Fujitaka Kinomoto filled the limo.

"I'm sorry sir, there appears to be a road block up ahead" was Charles' reply. He loathed working for Mr. Kinomoto, but working for any other family would be a step-down, seeing as he was working for one of the richest and most influential men in Tokyo. Plus he would have to leave poor Sakura alone with the monster that she was forced to call father. She was only eight, and she might as well be all alone in the world, for all she had was him. That was why he couldn't leave. One look into the child's emerald green eyes, and anyone human could understand his point.

"Well find out what the problem is! I want to get home, I have company arriving later in the evening and Rose must put Sakura into bed as soon as we arrive home so that she is out of the way."

"Certainly, sir." With that, Charles made to open his door. He glanced briefly in his rearview mirror, spotting little Sakura huddled in the backseat with her hands tightly laced across her lap. If he hadn't seen her get in the car, he wouldn't have known she was there. She didn't move or make a sound. That was how Mr. Kinomoto liked, nay, demanded it. He winked at her and she smiled. Even this brief gesture filled the car with a light far beyond any sun ray.

"What are you waiting for Charles, and you, girl, what in the hell are you smiling about?!" Sakura lowered her gaze and immediately folded her hands back in her lap.

"I am sorry father, please forgive me." Sakura mumbled, tears in her eyes. She adored him, and he hated her, but neither could see the other's emotions. It seemed that it didn't matter what Sakura said, her father had already forgotten about her. He actually had a reason this time. Ahead of them, there was a rumbling fast approaching. The entire limo shook as the sound grew closer. Suddenly, two cars zoomed past the intersection that they were stopped at.

"Damn those street racers! Charles, get a move on!"

"Certainly, sir." And with that, Charles eased the limo back to find a new route home. Neither men noticed that two emerald pools were focused on the cars that had just raced past. In all her eight years, Sakura had never seen anything quite like the reckless event that she had just witnessed. It fascinated her.

10 years later

"Sakura, get dressed this instant, we have an appearance at a press conference scheduled at 8 o'clock!" came the voice of Sakura's father from the doorway to her room. "Of course father, I shall be ready shortly." "All right, I will meet you at the conference hall. And don't wear something that looks like you've just crawled out of the gutter, we need to look presentable if I am to be elected ambassador. And I didn't spend a fortune to send you to boarding school to make you seem like some rude American, I expect you to be polite." "Of course father." But Sakura's father was already gone. She loved him dearly. To anyone else, it was apparent that this affection was far from being returned. But that didn't matter to Sakura; Fujitaka was all that she had left in the world.
Swiftly she changed into a dark brown skirt and jacket, with a pale pink button up shirt under it. It was business like but it still showed that she was only 18, and the child of her father. Sakura knew what her father wanted. She quickly ran a brush through her long, auburn hair, and was ready for the day. But not quite. There was a street race tonight, and she was going to be there. It would be her first one since arriving home in Tokyo after her stay at a boarding school in England. She grabbed another change of clothes. These were the "gutter clothes" that Fujitaka had spoken of, even though he had never seen them before. She shoved the outfit into a duffle bag, and grabbed her keys. She bounded down the stairs beaming at any servant she passed. She tossed her duffle bag into her car and was ready to go.
She pulled slowly out of the driveway, but as soon as she was out of sight of the house, she cranked up her music and floored it. She loved speed, and she was more than ready for the race tonight. Laughing, she shifted into the next gear while turning sharply around a corner. She was going to kick ass tonight.

Street race later that night

Darkness had fallen, and excitement was high. Important people were racing tonight, and if that wasn't enough, the race was being held downtown. Downtown was the most dangerous course that was ran. There was guaranteed to be some good crack ups tonight.
"Hey, Syaoran, how's it going?" a voice rose above the many types of blasting music. A young man with shaggy brown hair and gorgeous amber eyes turned around from where he was working under his hood.
"Fine, what about you?" was Syaoran's reply, as he preformed a complicated hand shake with his best friend Eriol.
"Same. So, you ready to kick some ass tonight?"
"Am I ever not ready?"
"Haha. You do have a point there." Further conversation was interrupted when a shiny black sports car pulled up, revving its engine.
"I wonder who that is, I don't recognize that car." Eriol said, looking a bit confused. It wasn't often that you got new racers, especially with a car as nice as this one.
"It doesn't matter, not like this guy will be a threat." Was Syaoran's response.
"You are one cocky son of a bitch, you know that?"
"Haha, yeah, but isn't that why you love me?" Eriol raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, I love you for much more than just that, I love you for the amber fire that is in your eyes, and your cobblestone abs, and..." Eriol yelped as Syaoran tackled him. "You are one sick freak, you know that?" Syaoran said as he pinned Eriol to the ground.
"Yeah, but that's why you love me." Eriol mocked, fluttering his eyelashes. Syaoran rolled his eyes, but quickly leapt off Eriol when the owner of the black sports car climber out of it and approached them.

Sakura walked toward the two men in front of her uneasily. She was dressed in baggy jeans and a tight black tank top. Her long auburn hair was pulled up under a skull cap that had a grinning skull on it.
'Knock it off Sakura,' she thought to herself. 'This is no different than racing in England.' So why was she so nervous? She shrugged the feeling off and headed towards the two men that were looking at her. One had amber eyes and messy brown hair and was giving her a glare that seemed well practiced. The other had navy blue hair and glasses and merely looked at her curiously. Both were good looking, but that didn't matter to Sakura. She was here for one thing and one thing only and that was racing. One of the great things about the street was that she could forget all of her etiquette.
"Hey, who do I talk to around here about racing?" Sakura asked in a bit of a gruff voice. She must not be recognized. The two men looked shocked.
"You want to race?" The man with amber eyes said a skeptical expression on his faced.
"Yeah, what's it to you?" was Sakura's equally rude reply.
"Psh, you're just a skank, why don't you go sit on the sideline and beg for one of the racers?" Sakura opened her mouth to come up with a scathing comeback, but before she could, the man with blue hair spoke up.
"Syaoran, just let her race." He said. Sakura saw him pass an interesting look to the man who must be named Syaoran. Sakura couldn't read the look, but she didn't really like it. "My name is Eriol; this is my teammate Syaoran, who will be racing tonight. So what's your name?"
"Saku." She replied, trying to figure out the situation. Saku was her nickname, and it worked well to hide her true identity.
"Well Saku, hat man over there with that red Mazda is the one you want to talk to. Opening bets are 100 grand minimum or car pink slips. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into." Eriol told her.
"Thanks." Said Sakura as she headed off toward the red car that Eriol had motioned to.
"Oh yeah, and Saku, you might not want to let them know you're a chick, some people don't like that much." Eriol called after her. Sakura sighed. She would have liked to say something, but she knew he was right. She walked to her car and grabbed a baggy black sweatshirt. Now she looked just like every other racer out there. She continues on her way.

Syaoran and Eriol watched this Saku chick grab a sweatshirt and head over to Mika who was taking the bets by his car. "Man, why'd you tell her where to go and to try not to be a chick?" Syaoran asked. He was kind of pissed; he didn't like competing with chicks. They were only good for one thing, and that wasn't racing.
"Think about it, it's one less driver you have to worry about beating." Eriol replied. "And besides, I bet she's a nice piece of ass..." Eriol walked off laughing to himself. Syaoran glared after him. Sometimes he wondered why he associated with the likes of him.