A/N: Here is chapter three. This one shifts the focus a little from the Kurenai X Hinata bits in favor of setup for this competition thing I've been talking about. Hopefully this isn't off-putting, and hopefully neither is this chapters length. I hope everyone enjoys.

Disclaimer: I'm sure that in one of the infinite alternate dimensions out there I actually do own Naruto. I don't here, however, so yeah…

It was a simple sentiment, really. Hinata had sworn to protect her always, and on top of that cherished her words at more worth than her own right thoughts. It was devotion at it's purest; this was love. But what exactly was love? Kurenai thought she knew; she thought she could still see the shadow of love in her past. How was this any different from that? Part of Kurenai Yuhi's mind resented thoughts like this; surely there was a difference between love in the romantic sense and this unending devotion Hinata seemed to exude in her favor. Hinata was a child and a female child nonetheless; she had been given responsibility over this girl by the girl's father and was to act as a mentor to the girl. Why, then, would she betray this responsibility, her own judgment, and everything she thought she knew about herself in order to think this way?

As much as Kurenai questioned her sentiments, she couldn't ignore them. Kurenai was a skilled shinobi; she was regarded quite reverently as one of the most talented and beautiful kunoichi to ever emerge from Konoha, an image that the usually modest Kurenai was one to flaunt. Now Hinata had emerged to be perhaps even more talented and beautiful then her; Hinata was blessed with the innate ability of her father's clan and though she tried to hide it, Kurenai knew fairly well Hinata had blossomed into what was a truly beautiful young woman. Maybe this was just pride then; just an older woman taking pride in the development of her most treasured apprentice. Kurenai could tell herself this but she couldn't convince herself it was true. There was something so pure and perfect about Hinata that was just so enticing that it sent shivers down Kurenai's frame; Kurenai knew that this battle against herself might be a losing fight.

It was now the day of the competition. Kurenai had been training her precious student for weeks now and knew that both of them were now well prepared for this moment. Even if her training session had done more to unearth fragilities in her own mental state than it had to cure the Hyuga girl of her own, Kurenai felt confident, as she and the girl walked toward the battle sight, that Hinata would be successful.

"So, Hinata you ready to win?" Kurenai said as the two walked, hoping to clear the other of any lingering doubts.

"W-well, I don't know about t-that…" Hinata said meekly with averted eyes.

"Hmm, your clan's the best in the whole village at this thing. As I see it you got this thing won already." Kurenai replied proudly.

"B-but I'm not suited for competition… I don't know if I'll be able to…" Hinata mumbled disjointedly.

"Nonsense. You'll do fine. You need to just remember the lessons I taught you the last couple of weeks." Kurenai asserted coolly.

"You mean to adjust the angle of my swift strikes by half a degree so that I ensure the greatest radius of impact for my palm." Hinata said with a smile as she recalled one of the few critiques Kurenai had given her physical form.

"Well… yeah… remember that… but also remember what we talked about as well…" Kurenai said with an oddly satisfied smirk.

"Oh… so, I should remember that… if I don't do well it will disappoint you…" Hinata said in a wisp like manner.

"S-sure.. I guess…" Kurenai said with a total lack of certainty; she supposed this had been the final conclusion of their training whether it was the desired one or not.

"So if I don't succeed sensei, will I be punished?" Hinata said lightly in an almost joking manner.

"Most likely not… but if you do well today you might get rewarded." Kurenai answered in an equally light tone.

"R-really… Hmm, I wonder what I'd get…" Hinata said in a somewhat cheerful way.

"You'll just have to wait and see…" Kurenai said still smiling as the two of them entered the building where the competition would take place and took their place in a line.

"So are you here today for the Konoha Taijutsu Competition, Kunoichi Division?" A young girl working as a clerk at a desk said as Hinata's turn in the line came up.

"Umm, Yeah… I-I am." Hinata asserted shyly.

"Well, then just sign here with your name and shinobi identification number and follow the designated path to competition area. The competition will take place over the course of today and tomorrow. Further competition details will be given out by an official prior to the start. Good Luck." The girl said very quickly in a professional manner to Hinata before sending her on her way.

"It seems like audience members go in here, Hinata. I wish I could accompany you further, but… I wish you luck." Kurenai said contently as she prepared to part ways with the girl.

"I'll do my best to not disappoint you, Kurenai-sensei." Hinata nodded lovingly before heading off with other competitors while Kurenai went on her own way.

An hour or so after Kurenai had found her seat in the large competition room's audience section, the sign up phase was designated as having ended and the doors were closed. Kurenai examined the vast wealth of young kunoichi; there were so many competitors and so few familiar faces. Kurenai was unaware that the village even had this many kunoichi in Hinata's relative age group. Despite this on the personal level, the number of faces was a bare minimum. Kurenai had anticipated that maybe Tenten, the Kunoichi from Neji's group, or Sakura, the Kunoichi form Naruto's group, might catch wind of the competition and attend, yet this was not the case. Kurenai surmised that most Kunoichi here today were the ones who really did have something desperate to prove not the established young hopes of the village. Kurenai didn't know whether this would serve to help or hinder her young apprentice.

"Alright everyone, I'm Aoba Yamashiro, the designated official appointed by the Hokage in charge of overseeing this event today. Allow me to explain the rules... This competition has two phases: the selection phase and the tournament phase. The first phase... the selection phase will allow us to select eight truly gifted shinobi form the 33 qualified competitors we have gathered here. This phase will consist of a series of three tests to your physical abilities, destructive power, and endurance, the results of which are to be judged by a skilled panel of judges. The eight competitors receiving the highest overall scores form these judges will return tomorrow for the tournament phase: a basic fighting tournament to determine who best deserves the competitions prize, a generous cash award, and favored status as a Konoha shinobi." The jounin Yamashiro said loudly over a speaker; it was hard to tell if the excitement in his voice was forced.

Kurenai knew than that Hinata would excel that day. She wouldn't have to fight an actual opponent until the next day. Kurenai was unaware of the details of something like this, as they are always changing form event to event, but this seemed to take a little weight of her shoulders as she sat back and watched the first girl run through the physical ability test. This test seemed to be purposed at testing both the kunoichi's form as well as her speed and flexibility. It was essentially a free form obstacle course. Kurenai knew that this test would be timed and figured that the targets that had to be hit along the course had censors in them that could read the magnitude of the kunoichi's strength and accuracy.

Seven girls went through the track before Hinata, all with what Kurenai saw as being varying degrees of success (ranging from near perfect runs to complete disasters). Hinata had a look of shear determination as her name was called. Before long she was racing at top speed through the track making use of some intense footwork as she avoided numerous obstacles and landed perfect strikes on the rapidly approaching targets. As she watched Hinata do a charging spin attack consecutively hitting two moving targets while racing along and avoiding a series of obstacles at her feet and flying kunai all around her as if it were nothing, Kurenai couldn't help but be amazed with the very pupil she had mentored. She wasn't alone, as when Hinata finished her seamless run the crowd erupted with applause.

The remaining 25 girl's proceeded to complete the first test before the second was prepared. The second seemed a more simplified target test. This time the girl's were given one minute to inflict as much damage on a stationary human sized target as possible. This test was deigned to push the limits of the taijutsu technique. It was to show the true destructive power that each girl was capable of. Kurenai gave a sigh as she watched the first girl struggle helplessly to break apart the figure with a series of random punches and kicks before her time ran out and she was forced to stop. The second girl fared far better as she effortlessly sliced her target to pieces with a skillful knife technique. Soon it was Hinata's turn and as Kurenai figured, Hinata met this challenge with intensity and drive equal to the first. She proceeded to launch her palms at the figure with such ferocity, the chakra seemed to pour from her fingertips as she decimated the target with her bare hands with time left over.

The final test seemed somewhat twisted to Kurenai. The kunoichi was placed in a small mechanical cage that periodically shot kunai from it's walls at increasing intervals of speed. The ninja was to deflect and avoid as many of these ensuing blades as possible without being hit. This would show how well the shinobi could endure in battle. The first girl lasted six minutes before being hit and the second lasted twelve. A few girl's struggled to last an entire minute. When it was Hinata's turn, Kurenai made herself comfortable as she knew that this would last a while. Not failing her expectations, Hinata proceeded to strike each kunai out of the air flawlessly as if it was nothing. Nearly twenty minutes later Hinata found herself unable to keep up as on this now near rapid setting with her waning energy she failed to avoid a couple knifes approaching in her Byakugan's blind spot and suffered some wounds to her right shoulder. Her test was stopped to further cheers as she was treated with the other girls. All in all only three girls lasted longer than Hinata.

After some time for deliberation on the results the judges came up with the rankings and of the girls. The data for the top eight girls were given to Aoba who read them aloud.

"Alright. Let's see… In this phase our highest score belongs to Kusuriko Kenkyakukuse, age 19, Chunin, scores 9.7, 9.6, 9.7. Total score 9.7. Second rank goes to Marise Kaizoku, age 24, Chunin, scores 9.8, 9.7, 9.2 Total score 9.6. Third ranking is Hinata Hyuga, age 16, Chunin, scores 9.5, 9.8, 9.3. Total 9.5. Fourth is Nyoko Hyoryusha, age 13, Genin, Scores 7.4, 10.0, 9.5. Total 9.1. Fifth is Oki Kodoku, age 21, Jounin, scores 8.4, 8.7, 9.9. Score 9.0. In sixth, we have Umeko Yamisune, age 17, Genin, scores 8.6, 9.6, 7.6. Total 8.6. Seventh is Shinobu Sougu, age 18. Chunin. Scores 8.5, 8.5, 85. Total score 8.5. And then in the final slot Muteki Kyuuketsuki, age 15.Genin. Scores: 8.7, 6.3, 9.1. Total 8.2. Those eight step forward. The rest of you may see your evaluation posted as you exit." Aoba Yamashiro read the sores in an indifferent manner. Hinata and the other seven soon made their way to the front of the room, while the other 25 left the room with looks of disappointment.

"Alright, I'm going to give you the details of the tournament tomorrow now." Yamashiro said as soon as the eight were the only kunoichi left on the floor.

"Yeah! I can't wait! This is so much fun!" The young girl, Nyoko bursted out in an over-excited tone.

"Yes… please be calm. This tournament will be conducted in a traditional style. There will be four initial matches, the winners of which will compete in the two semifinal matches. The winners of those matches will compete in the final fight for the prize." Aoba continued in a cool manner.

"So, there rules to these fights we got here…" The woman addressed as Marise said in a harsh voice.

"There are no restrictons or limitations to these fights. You are allowed to bring whatever weapons or tools you so desire." The official clarified.

"Are we strictly limited to taijutsu, or can we use genjutsu and ninjutsu as well?" Umeko Yamisune said in a soft voice.

"For this phase of the competition, it is imperative you defeat the opponent by any means necessary. That being said this competition is designed to pick out those who have advanced skill at taijutsu, so it is preferred you do so. Still, nothing is off limits." Aoba replied dutifully.

"So we are allowed to kill then…" The girl Muteki asserted in a wispy voice.

"Again it's really best if you avoid that, but your opponent's death will not penalize you in the end results." Aoba said a little taken aback by the young girl's question.

"What are the match-ups for tomorrow then?" Shinobu said in a simple, slightly nervous way.

"Right… Match 1 will be Shinobu Sougu vs. Marise Kaizoku. Match 2 will be Hinata Hyuga vs. Oki Kodoku. Match 3 will be Nyoko Hyoryusha vs. Muteki Kyuuketsuki. Match 4 will be Kusuriko Kenkyakukuse vs. Umeko Yamisune." Yamashiro read the groupings to the kunoichi.

"Yay! I got it easy, I'm paired to the eight seed." Nyoko called out failing to restrain her intense excitement.

"Is that what you think…? Hmm… amusing." Muteki said with an arrogant laugh.

"I-I have to go first. I don't know… this is all so much pressure." Shinobu said shaking slightly.

"Thinkin' like that'll get ya killed goin' against me." Marise spoke roughly in a way that put obvious fear in the other girl's heart.

"I suppose I will have to unleash everything I have if I hope to defeat the top contender." Umeko said to herself in a whisper.

"Please don't fear, my blade is swift but it is honorable. I look forward to our match and wish you luck." Kusuriko said in a light, serious way that gave her a noble quality.

Hinata turned to look at her opponent who had kept thus far quiet. The jounin Oki leaned against a nearby wall. It was hard to tell if she was even awake as her messy black hair hid both her eyes from sight. She dressed roughly, her clothes seemed less practical, and more just thrown together at random. From Kurenai's prospective, the only thing really memorable about Oki from the tests was her incredible ability to block kunai in the final test. She seemed to have had impossibly perfect reflexes and unlimited stamina.

Aoba dismissed the girls and the group exited still chatting amongst themselves.

"You are of the honored Hyuga clan are you not, miss." Kusuriko's overly serious voice became the first to actually travel Hinata's way.

"Uhh… Y-yeah. I am." Hinata said nodding.

"I hope very much to get a chance to spar with you. I've studied the Hyuga technique and would like nothing more than an opportunity to cross blades with an honored member of such a clan. It is unfortunate that with the way things are set we would not be able to meet until the finals. I really do wish you the best." The girl responded enthusiastically clenching the katana at her side as she flashed a quaint smile.

"The Hyuga gals' gotta get by me first if she's gonna make it that far... But don't worry too much, I may not be some highborn trash, but I'm about as good as ya can get on your own. I'd be sure to give ya a good fight." Marise broke into the conversation gloatingly. Her harsh tone and wild looks, were a tad off-putting but she looked as if maybe she actually did have something to prove.

"In that case, whomever I fight, be it Miss Hyuga or Miss Kaizoku. I'm sure it will be a most entertaining bout. I look forward to it very much." Kusuriko returned in comment.

"I think the lady with the shiny sword is being mean. I mean, I'm a good ninja. But she thinks she's going to the finals without even considering our match... That makes me sad." The lithe youngster Nyoko started in a confused, semi angry, mostly energetic voice.

"I'm sorry Miss Hyoryusha. You do seem a worth opponent. I'm sure all my opponents in this tournament will be quite worthy." Kenkyakukuse said in a polite and apologetic way.

"So which one of you is the one I fight…" Oki said with a daunting yawn, as she finally seemed to exit her sleep like daze.

"Uh, you're schedule to fight Hinata here... what you didn't realize that?" Umeko said surprised.

"Oh, cool…thanks…" Oki responded drearily in a bored tone. That made her difficult to size up.

"Well then, may each of us be blessed by the spirits of the great warriors as we unsheathe our blades in search of glory." Kusuriko injected in her normal elegant way.

"God, you sound stupid…" Oki coughed rudely as she walked off on her own.

"Sure, let's give it our all." Umeko said with a determined but uneasy smile before leaving as well.

"Yeah! Everyone, this'll be so much fun!" Nyoko chimed with exuberantly hyper motions before following suit.

"Ummm... I hope we all do our best tomorrow too..." Shinobu managed to say in an unnerved way before running off.

"Ha... What useless sentiments... no matter how hard you struggle in the end there will be only one victor..." Muteki said in a low brooding tone before slinking away.

"How true. Only one of us 'll stand at the end. And I'll be makin' sure thats me." Marise flashed a smile full of confidence before making her own exit.

"I-I guess I'm gonna go too... See you tomorrow then, K-Kusuriko." Hinata said steadily leaving the polite swordswoman to her own in order to search out her sensei.

It wasn't long before Kurenai had reunited with her young student. Kurenai knew she and Hinata had a lot to talk about. In fact she couldn't hide her enthusiasm as she turned to face Hinata.

"So, Hinata, how was it?" Kurenai started with a simple question though a proud smile was already beginning on her lips.

"I-I'm sorry sensei... I hope you are not disappointed in me..." Hinata asserted in a shaky tone.

"What? Why on earth would I be disappointed in you Hinata, you did wonderfully." Kurenai responded protectively.

"Kusuriko and Marise both scored higher than me... I tried my hardest... b-but I still wasn't the best... I wanted to be the best for you." Hinata said, pouting.

"Hinata. Of course I'm not disappointed. Considering the upper age cap for the competition was 25 and there were no restrictions on ninja rank, I honestly hadn't expected you to rank first in the first place. In fact you did better than I would have imagined."Kurenai said kindly through a maternal smile.

"But.. s-still. I wanted to be the best... I-I guess I-I'll just have to win tomorrow." Hinata said with a fierceness in her eyes.

"That's the right attitude" Kurenai flashed a loving smile at the cute young girl.

It really made Kurenai's heart light to hear her precious one speak like this. Hinata was never this driven, never this focused on a single goal. What made it especially odd was that obtaining this goal involved a great deal of violence, danger, and struggle. Hinata had spent some time in the company of her adversaries and likely knew very much what she was up against. Tomorrow she would be forced into battle with these people, she would be forced to cause them harm. Yet, knowing this, this girl would go into this with her eyes burning intently, all for the purpose of pleasing Kurenai. With this Kurenai perhaps realized that there was no denying how this girl made her feel inside, and maybe with the intensity of the feeling in Hinata's eye and in her smile, perhaps there was no denying that Hinata felt the same things.

A/N: As I said before, this chapter isn't too Kurenai X Hinata centric. I apologize for this. In truth I actually went back and elaborated on the first two paragraphs once I saw that the KureHina contact was so limited here. Instead of my usual light dialog heavy fares this was very blocky paragraph stuff, I hope this didn't make things too difficult to follow. I was glad I had decided on making this more Kurenai centered in perspective, as it would have been a lot more difficult to write out Hinata's thoughts and descriptives on every test as opposed to just the view of an onlooker. Also, I don't know why I decided to bog this fic down with seven OC's. I'm not a real fans of OC's and usually I like to keep their numbers to a minimum. However, I was so disorganized and dislodged going into this chapter that I couldn't come up with a good idea for a single dominant OC, so I just went with a whole bunch of static stock characters, that were pretty much generated in my mind at random (the names were selected at relative random from lists of Japanese names and words and stuff as well) that I can use how I want in the tournament (I actually haven't completely decide on how the tournament is going to play out, though hopefully my characterizations gave you some idea of where things were going). I suppose in the end most of them will fade into an infinite hole of unimportance, but, eh I can probably get a few good fights out of this in chapter five. I suppose in the end, I could have split this super-long chap into 2. Though, I think a lot of my readers might be disappointed if there was no "action" as of chapter four. Now with all this condensed into 1 chapter, I can fill chapter four with hot Kurenai X Hinata lovemaking and stuff of a romantic nature and all. So, tell me what you think. I'd greatly appreciate, knowing how I'm doing, and hopefully you'll continue to read.