A/N: I apologize in advance for any details that may be messed up. I wrote this for fun a while ago and haven't seriously watched or read Naruto for years, but Kurenai remains one of my favorite anime/manga characters ever to this day, even if my interest in the series itself has dwindled. So hopefully it's not too inaccurate. Enjoy! :)

Kurenai sighed quietly to herself as she watched her team members train. One of them in particular was worrying her. Kiba was doing well and had definitely improved, as had Shino, but Hinata was really no different than she had been two months ago, when she first passed her test. The girl was too shy for her own good and lacked even the slightest hint of self confidence. Clearly she'd have to go beyond the call of duty with her and become a counselor as well as a trainer, not that she minded. Despite her faults, the young Hyuuga girl was a very sweet and good-hearted girl and she had definitely grown to care for her. It was also no secret how Hinata's father, Hiashi, treated her.

"Hey! Hinata!" she called out to her student.

Hinata stopped what she was doing and turned to face her teacher, as did Kiba and Shino strictly out of curiosity. "Y-yes, Kurenai-sensei?"

"Take a break and come here for a minute. I'd like to talk to you."

Without saying another word, the worried girl wandered over to the raven-haired woman. Kiba and Shino continued their training. Once she reached her, Hinata spoke quietly. "Wh-what is it, Kurenai-sensei?"

"Tell me honestly, do you think you've progressed since you started training under me?"

The question caught Hinata off guard. She shifted her gaze to stare down at the ground and began to nervously press her index fingers together. "Um...I don't think so."

"Do you know why?"

"N-no." The young girl's cheeks began to flush and turn pink. She then felt a hand placed gently on her shoulder, which startled her. She looked back up into the crimson eyes of the woman in front of her, unsure of what was going to come next.

"Come to my apartment with me after we're done here. I want to try something that might help you." The older woman smiled kindly then took her hand off of the shoulder of the girl. "Okay?"

Hinata's cheeks became even pinker. "O-okay...K-Kurenai-sensei."

"Good. Then you can get back to your training for now."

With another smile from her teacher, Hinata was back with Kiba and Shino. The more talkative of the two approached her and threw his arm around her shoulders. "What did Kurenai-sensei want, huh?"

"She just wanted to talk to me about something she thinks might help me. That's all."

"Whatever they talked about is their business. If she wanted us to know she would've told us." Shino chimed in.

Kiba chuckled. "Oh shut it, Shino. I was just curious." The boy got a toothy grin then shifted into a fighting stance. "What do you say we spar, huh? Just me and you."

"Might as well." Shino responded.

After the two boys finished their mock-battle, Kurenai decided it had been long enough. "Alright, guys, I think that's enough for today. Go home, rest up, and be ready for some more tomorrow." She smiled and Kiba and Shino did as they were told. Hinata stayed behind and began pressing her index fingers together again. "You ready?"

The girl nodded her head. "Uh-huh."

Kurenai smiled again and gestured for Hinata to walk beside her. "Then let's go." Hinata joined her and they began walking. Both were silent, which made it slightly awkward, but they weren't far from their destination and made it there quickly. As they reached the door, Kurenai pushed it open and gestured for Hinata to go in first. Hinata did so and entered, Kurenai coming in behind her and shutting the door. The indigo-haired girl stood in place, her hands fumbling with each other as she stared down at the ground, unsure of what else to do. "Would you like some tea?" Kurenai asked.

"Um...yes, please."

As she looked at the shy, stuttering girl standing nervously across the room, Kurenai couldn't help but raise her eyebrows for a sympathetic smile. "Feel free to sit down. Just make yourself at home, okay?"

"O-okay." Hinata walked over to the three-seater couch situated by the wall, just under the window, and sat down in the middle.

"I'll be right back with that tea." With that, she disappeared into the kitchen.

Hinata simply sat quietly while she waited for her sensei to return. She was still a little confused since she had never invited any of them to her home before. As she began to look around the room, she noticed how feminine and cozy the place was, though that femininity was slightly thrown off in places by her ninja equipment.

Her admiring of the room's design was quickly interrupted, however, when a tray was placed on the table in front of her. On the tray was two little porcelain cups and a teapot, which Kurenai picked up and emptied partially into the cups. She picked up her own, sat down next to her student, and brought it to her lips for a small sip, closing her eyes for a moment. One eye opened and glanced over at the girl sitting next to her, who was still sitting quietly and hadn't even touched her tea yet. She seemed as if she wasn't actually there and was instead lost somewhere in her own thoughts. Kurenai set her cup down on the tray and looked over at her student. "Hinata...I want to talk to you about something."

"Wh-what is it?"

"Before I start, don't get the wrong idea from what I say. Please take it simply as constructive criticism." Hinata nodded in response, so Kurenai continued. "As I pointed out earlier, you haven't really improved since we began...and you won't improve unless you can believe in yourself a little." Hinata looked off to the side and at the ground, her cheeks flushing a dark pink again. Kurenai placed her hand on the young girl's knee and smiled a comforting smile as the girl's head quickly flicked to look at her after the touch. "Come with me. I've got an idea."

"Um...okay...Kurenai-sensei."

After she agreed, the older woman grabbed the hand of the younger and led her to her bedroom. Hinata became even more confused and nervous upon entering but continued to follow her nonetheless. They came to a stop at a small table with a mirror hanging on the wall above it. On the table were a few lipstick tubes, a few different shades of eyeshadow, black eyeliner, mascara, blush, and the appropriate brushes, if needed, for each. There was a small stool in front of the table and Kurenai gently sat Hinata down onto it. The girl stared at her own reflection for a moment, then down at the makeup spread across the table. Her teacher stood behind her, set her hands on her shoulders, and bent down to look into the mirror with her. "I'm not saying it's bad to be a tomboy like you are, but a girl needs to feel pretty once in a while and natural doesn't always do the trick for our inner critic. Don't get me wrong, Hinata, you are a beautiful girl just the way you are now, but we judge ourselves more harshly than any outside person possibly could. What do you say we try and please that nasty critic of yours with a little trick, hm?"

"Y-you mean...makeup?"

"Precisely."

"But...I've never worn makeup before."

"It's ok to let go of that tomboyishness once in a while." After this Kurenai let go of her and walked around to the table, where she picked up a lipstick tube, popped off the lid, and wound it up. "Now turn around. I want you to wait until I'm finished for you to see yourself."

"Um...okay." Hinata did as she was told and turned around in her seat.

Kurenai walked back around to the front of her and bent down to her level. "Open up." Again the girl listened and parted her lips just enough. Kurenai began to apply the lipstick, giving the lips it touched a slightly darker pinkish hue. She was careful to choose one that wouldn't be too strong or overbearing. After carefully outlining the lips and wiping away any errors, she traded tools and got the eyeliner instead. "Close your eyes." Hinata did so and she traced a thin but perfect outline of them with the pencil. After trading her tool again for eye shadow, she had Hinata close her eyes again. As the fine powder was carefully applied, her eyelids gained a very light purplish color. After this she applied the mascara, and finally, a hint of a rosy colored blush. "Now, turn around."

As the nervous young girl flipped around to see her reflection in the mirror, she was shocked at what she saw. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth hung slightly open. "Is...is that...me?"

"I told you a little makeup doesn't hurt." Kurenai said with a giggle and a smile.

After a few moments, Hinata relaxed and allowed a smile to come across her face. "I...I look..."

"You look beautiful, Hinata."

"I...I guess I am." The young girl turned around and faced her teacher, a nervous smile still on her face. "Thank you, Kurenai-sensei."

"Any time, Hinata."

After this, Hinata instinctively hugged Kurenai, which made the woman go wide-eyed, as she wasn't expecting it. Hinata, after realizing what she just did, suddenly pulled back and blushed profoundly. "I-I'm sorry, Kurenai-sensei! I just..." she trailed off after noticing her teacher's amused expression.

Kurenai giggled. "It's alright. I don't mind. You just caught me off-guard is all."

Hinata relaxed again and a faint smile appeared. Something about how Kurenai had been that night made her trust her even more and feel more comfortable around her. It reminded her more of her own mother, rather than of a team leader. That's why she hugged her. It was almost instinctive and she couldn't stop it.

Kurenai stood up and flipped her hair out of her face. "Now how about we get you home?"

"Um...Kurenai-sensei...I was actually wondering if maybe...I could stay just a little longer?"

"As long as it isn't going to get your father angry with you. I'd hate to send you home to that."

"No...it'll be fine."

"Then you can stay as long as you like." The jonin began to make her way towards the door but quickly turned around just before exiting. "Do you want me to heat up th-" She stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Hinata, still sitting at the table and simply staring at her reflection.

"Are you okay?"

Hinata flipped around to look at her. "Oh...yes. Sorry." She then got up and followed her teacher out of the room.

Kurenai sent her student home later that night and woke up the next morning feeling perfectly content with the events of the night before. They had sat down to more tea and simply talked for a couple more hours. By the time she left, Hinata was practically glowing, though exactly what had caused it she couldn't say. Maybe it was the makeover. Maybe it was just having a friend to talk to. Maybe it was getting a break from her father. She didn't know what it was, which also meant that she didn't know what had worked and therefore didn't know what to try again. At least whatever it was had worked. That's what's important.

As she went out for her morning walk around the village, she heard a familiar voice as she passed her team's training area. When she turned to look, her eyes were instantly drawn to an indigo-haired young girl in a puffy, tan coat repeatedly hitting a tree. Upon getting closer she began to notice the girl's fists bleeding and how heavily she was sweating. Also, the glow she had left with the previous night had been completely extinguished. "Hinata? What are you doing?"

The girl stopped attacking the tree and looked over at the woman standing before her. "Oh...Kurenai-sensei." she said in between heavy breaths. Before she could say anything more, her knees gave out and she fell to the ground.

Kurenai kneeled down next to her and took her hand to help her sit up. "Are you alright?"

"I...I'm fine." she said as she attempted to stand up, but her legs wouldn't let her.

"What in the world are you doing?"

Hinata looked up and saw the worry reflected in the older woman's face. "My father saw the makeup and, along with how late I was, thought I had been slacking off. So I have to train even harder today."

Kurenai sighed then looked at the hand she held, noting the blood, bruising, and shredded flesh on it, especially around the knuckles. "This is too much. Don't push yourself so hard."

"I have to. Father was furious with me when I got home last night."

Kurenai was suddenly overcome with guilt. It was her fault. She had given her the makeup then allowed her to stay longer, even knowing about her father's short temper. "I'm sorry, Hinata. I never would've if I had known."

"No...really...it's alright, Kurenai-sensei. It's my fault. I asked to stay later, even though I knew he would be angry with me for it."

"At least let me help with the wounds on your hands. They look really bad."

"O-okay." Hinata agreed.

Kurenai stood up then helped her student to stand up with her. This time she was able to, but she was very unstable and weak. She could only walk and even remain standing with her sensei's help. When they reached her apartment again, she sat the young girl down on the couch and fetched what was necessary to treat her hands. Once she got what the needed, she sat down next to her and began to clean them off. The stinging caused Hinata to flinch. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright."

After finishing up with the cleaning part, Kurenai wrapped up her hand with a bandage. She looked up at her student and smiled. "There you go." Her expression then suddenly changed to reflect her worry, though the smile still remained. "Now, please Hinata, promise me you won't go doing that again. If your father gets too upset with you, you can always come here."

Hinata returned her sensei's kind smile. "Thank you, Kurenai-sensei. I'll remember that."

Another month passed after that day. Hinata had been visiting her sensei regularly and they had become very close. On this particular night, Kurenai actually had a date planned with Asuma. (They still wouldn't openly admit to being together, but that didn't mean that they weren't.) Because of this, she was sitting in her room and finishing up getting ready. She was mostly done and just needed to apply a few final touches. While she was touching up her lipstick, she heard a knock at the door and quickly got up to go answer it, a large smile quickly spreading across her face. The smile quickly faded into a look of surprise when she saw that it wasn't who she expected. Instead of the tall, rugged jonin, it was a blue-haired young girl, pressing her index fingers together and staring at the ground. After noticing the sad expression on her student's face, she quickly put on another smile to try and keep the mood as light as possible. "Oh, hello, Hinata. Come in." Hinata walked past her and took a seat on the couch. Kurenai walked over and sat down next to her. "Is everything alright?"

"It's just my father. He's..."

"He's what?"

"He's actually trying to find me. I don't usually tell him when I come here so I thought I'd be safe since he won't expect me here." The young girl's hands rested on her legs but clenched into fists as tears began to swell in her eyes. "I don't even know what he's angry about this time..."

Kurenai hugged her, which sort of caught her off guard. "You're always safe here. Don't worry." After a few moments, her student hugged her back, her hands tightly gripping the fabric of the back of her dress. Tears flowed from her eyes and she completely let loose. Kurenai held the girl tightly and smiled a gentle smile. Her voice as she spoke was soft and kind. "It's alright. You're safe now."

They remained like this for a little while longer. After getting all of that out, Hinata began to feel really tired. She was already laying on her sensei's chest, hearing her heart beat in a steady rhythm, and she felt strangely comfortable. Where she was now, she felt like nothing could hurt her. With this sense of security and peace, she quickly began to drift off to sleep. Before she completely nodded off, though, her sensei whispered a question to her, "Feel any better?" She looked down at her with a gentle smile.

"Yes...m-mother..." The young girl mumbled, mostly asleep.

Kurenai looked down at her, eyes wide with surprise. "What did you just say?"

Hinata curled up a little tighter, pulling her legs up onto the couch. "You're my mother...right?"

Her eyes were still closed, but a small smile curved her lips. She was close enough to being fully asleep that she was half in a dream that the older woman holding her was now part of.

"I..." Kurenai began, unsure of how to answer. After thinking about it for a moment, her expression relaxed into the same kind smile she had had previously. 'She probably won't remember a word of this,' she thought, 'So I may as well make her happy for now.' "Yes," she began, "I am."

Shortly after this happened, there was another knock at the door but, before she could even think about what to do about it, the visitor opened the door and peeked their head in. It was Asuma. He put on his usual smile, minus the cigarette he could usually be found smoking, and looked over at Kurenai, noticing Hinata asleep in her arms but not really thinking much of it. He knew how close they were and how often she came over. "How ya doin', pretty lady?" he said jokingly.

The raven-haired woman giggled a little bit and returned his smile. "I just had to help her a little bit. I guess it tired her out."

Asuma let himself in and shut the door behind him. He approached Kurenai and gave her a quick kiss. "So what are we going to do with her?"

"I can't send her home or leave her here alone. Hiashi's on a rampage."

"So...does that mean she'll be coming with us?"

"No. That would kind of defeat the purpose of a moonlight picnic."

"Then what's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Asuma, but I think we might have to reschedule. You're welcome to stay here, of course, but this is really important. After what just happened, I feel like I should stay with her."

"Whet do you mean? What just happened?"

Kurenai's crimson lips formed another gentle smile as she looked over at Asuma. It had been strange, but oddly enough seemed to fit. "She seems to think I'm her mother right now."

He reflected her smile and spoke quietly. "So that's why you're holding her like that. I knew you two were close, but I didn't think you were that close."

The younger sensei shifted her gaze back down to her student. "Well I think I may have just been playing a part in a dream she was having. Still, she has pretty much become like a daughter to me in a way."

After seeing the look of love and motherly affection in his partner's eyes, Asuma decided he should probably decline her offer to stay. "At least you're both happy. That's what matters."

Kurenai looked over at him again as he approached her. "Well I think I should leave you two alone. Mother-daughter bonding and all that. Wouldn't want to interfere." he said with a joking smile and a slight chuckle. He kissed the crimson-eyed woman again and walked towards the door. "See ya later."

"Goodbye." she responded, slightly confused. "And I'm sorry again. I'll come see you tomorrow and we'll figure out another day, okay?"

"Don't worry about it. Another day will be fine." He then let himself out, leaving Kurenai and her student alone again.

The jounin shifted her position slightly to get more comfortable then closed her eyes. A small voice spoke before she could really fall asleep, however. "M-mother?"

"Yes?" she answered.

"Thank you."

"Of course, darling." What she was being thanked for in the dream, she wasn't totally sure, but she still had to play the part of a mother.

The young girl's lips curved into a small smile again. "I love you, mom."

Kurenai hesitated for a moment, but, when she spoke, said what she meant. "I love you, too."