Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 1: Flimsy Excuses

'Shoot', Neji realized, 'That was Tenten.' And with that thought in mind, he set off toward Tenten's home.

O.o.o.O.o.o.O

Meanwhile, at her house, Tenten was starting to panic. 'Am I cursed? Like Gaara? Will I be feared and hated by everyone because of this? Why can't I change back to a human?'

"Come on!" she muttered to herself as she willed herself to change. No. Nothing happened. She still had the same piercing golden eyes, the same black-scaled long body, and the same large leathery bat-like wings.

A knock was heard.

'No! I can't let anyone find out what happened!'

"Tenten? Are you alright?" questioned a concerned voice. Neji's voice.

'I have to hurry…I need to think of an excuse! But wait… Was that truly Neji, though? He never comes to my house except to ask to spar.'

"Tenten?" asked Neji's voice again.

'All right. Perhaps it really is him. I hope he hasn't used his Byakugan yet.' She silently prayed for her excuse (albeit a very lame one) to work.

"Neji, don't come in. I'm changing!" shouted Tenten.

"Really…Is that so? Then what was the reason for that scream I heard earlier?" drawled Neji. Tenten could almost see his smirk.

"Um…I was in the shower! You know, and it was really warm…but suddenly it got hot! Really hot…so I screamed," replied Tenten nervously, wishing fervently that he wouldn't see through her incredibly horrible lie.

"Hn." He lingered around her house for a couple minutes longer, then left.

O.o.o.O.o.o.O

Tenten listened intently with her new sharper dragon ears to hear Neji leave.

She sighed. She could tell that Neji wasn't entirely convinced about the whole hot shower thing. He was far too intelligent to fall for such an excuse. Now, though, she had other things to think about.

'Now, how can I change back into a human? Hmm…'

O.o.o.O.o.o.O

Neji strode silently away from Tenten's house.

'At least now I know she's okay. But what exactly did happen to her? Why is she keeping secrets from me?'

A/N: Do they actually know about Gaara's hidden monster? I don't remember, having read the chapters a long time ago. Yeah…so I'm trying to make these chapters longer…Too much dialogue? Please review.