Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto…I wouldn't be writing fan-fiction about it... le sigh

Hyuuga Hinata side-stepped an oncoming punch and connected her elbow to her opponent's upper spine. It had been a while since she fought and having a smaller frame than her opponent was giving her a slight disadvantage; She was grabbed from behind and knocked down.

Hinata wasn't clumsy for long, she rolled slightly away, effectively dodging what would have been a death-blow to her neck and sprang back to her feet. She countered with a mirroring, but much weaker jab to the throat, the final hit before her opponent passed out of both exhaustion and, possibly, blood loss.

"Brava…" Tsunade, Konoha's proud Kage, descended from her dais, her off-white robes gliding behind her, "Hyuuga-san…" She nodded her head towards Hinata in acknowledgment, and Hinata kneeled before her Kage, dipping her left knee into the blood soaked terrain she had helped create.

"Tsunade-sama." Hinata greeted, but kept her eyes firmly on the crimson mud beneath her.

"My people!" Tsunade's voice resonated throughout the stadium, provoking the spectators into a frenzy before Tsunade signaled them to quite down.

"…And fellow Kage," She motioned towards the dais, where various leaders were seated. "We have gather, as we've always done, to encourage trade with our allies."

She smiled, "And, of course, for the entertainment that our tournament offers." The crowd cheered once more and Tsunade raised her hands to call for silence.

"I am quite glad that this time, one of my soldiers has had the chance to rise to the finals." She kneeled in front of Hinata, dirtying her robes, and cradled Hinata's face in her hands, turning her head up to look into the Hyuuga's eyes.

"Congratulations," She whispered and kissed Hinata's forehead before standing once more and returning to the dais, from where she, and the other Kage, were escorted out of the stadium just as another loud cheer rang through the air.

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Hinata flinched as the alcohol dipped cloth touched a wound at her stomach causing Neji to chuckle at his cousin's childish behavior but kept up his cleaning duties. "If I knew you were going to be such a baby about this, I wouldn't have let you compete."

She playfully punched her cousin's shoulder, "Like you could stop me." She winced as he purposely added pressure to the cloth and pulled away.

"That's enough," She pulled on her black tank-top, saddened that it had blood crusted on it. "Gross…"

She stepped in front of a full length mirror, thanking the skies that they had one in the stadium's gym. Her hair had been cropped shorter that it once was, simply for this tournament, and it, like her tank top, was caked in dry blood.

Hinata groaned, taking in her battered figure, "I…look like…"

Neji embraced her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder, "Shit?" He offended and Hinata nodded solemnly.

"Exactly."

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The day could only get better from then on. Because Hinata's fight was early in the day, she had all afternoon to mingle with the merchants and tourist that had overflooded the village hidden in the leaves. It had been hard to get out all the clumped up blood from her hair, but because it was so short, the process hadn't taken too long.

Prologue is done and out of the way. I plan to update this puppy once a week.
x3 So look for it every Friday, ne?