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Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, otherwise the NejiTen would be canon.

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Enjoy.


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Chapter 2. Second moon

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After a few more nights the 'skillful hunters' who claimed to be the useless men gave up looking for the terrible beast. Although they had all heard Neji tell them that it was a panther and not a wolf as many believed, they were still skeptical. Of course, because only wolves fed on sheep, ridiculous. The next time he was at the place she worked, although the maid designated for such a task was there, she was summoned as the guest had requested her presence. She didn't look up and he didn't speak to her, but again he was at the exit waiting for her when it was time to leave.

"You move silently."

"Yes, si…" right, don't tell him sir, "the less you feel my presence the better."

"Will you tell me how you crossed half a continent to get to work in Konoha?"

"I didn't do it in one run, nor was Konoha my particular destination," she clarified. "I had to leave the village when... when the situation got complicated, the attacks were increasing and were becoming more and more frequent. It was very dangerous to be in the place at that time."

Although the attacks were directed by them, the pack was determined to destroy that hamlet that had settled right on the riverbank which was making it difficult for them to obtain resources. Several infiltrated, posing as exiles from other villages looking for a place to put down roots, once among the humans they began to circulate superstitious stories about it being a cursed location and that the spirits were annoyed at disturbing their peace.

"When my parents were…" she almost said hunted, "killed, I preferred to leave. It wasn't safe to be there alone."

"How old were you?"

"16, because of my age many thought they could take advantage so I started working as a maid in the service of wealthy families... I have a facility with…" puppies, she had always liked to play with the puppies in the herd and help them in their first hunts, she was skillful and her attacks were always accurate, "kids."

"That does not fully explain how you got here."

"No, but I'm the only one talking," against her will she looked up, concentrating on keeping her nails from sharpening. "What about you? Where are you from?"

"From Ishi," he took her gently by the chin and she felt an electric current run through her, she couldn't get lost in those eyes, "it is really fascinating the way they change with the light." She nodded and with her hand she removed his to let her go.

"You're also far from home," she resumed the conversation

"Not as far as you are, but yes. My mission has brought me here."

"And what is the mission of a hunter?"

"I never said I was a hunter."

"I heard you talk about hunting last time," she evaded. Stupid!

"Do you spy on your patrons' conversations?"

"A thousand apologies sir, it won't happen again," his laughter rang out.

"You are too submissive to be natural in your attitude," she just kept silent, "you were in the room, it was obvious you were going to listen to what we were talking about. I move around the continent following... a legend."

"You don't have to tell me."

"In fact I want to. Have you heard about the therianthropes?" she denied, preferring to feign ignorance, "vulgarly known as werewolves, in other areas they say they are werepanther."

"That's a superstitious legend... besides, everybody says they are extinct."

"I have my reasons to believe that they are not, you are the first person I know who has been in a place besieged by them."

"I don't get it, they were just panthers."

"A very coordinated herd, since what happened in that country there have been few sightings. It is vital to me to find one and I wish you could tell me everything you remember."

"And I'll still be the only one talking."

"We will exchange stories, I will tell you my adventures in several villages, maybe we have coincided in some other." She doubted it, those eyes were unforgettable.

"All right."

"Well, then – Where were you before you came to Konoha?"

She smiled, that wasn't going to turn out well, the time she had been in that village was quite a novelty compared to how long she had lasted in the other places. She could rarely stay more than 6 months in any one place before attracting attention in the area for the sudden disappearance of animals if she didn't manage to retreat far enough, plus the close proximity between several villages was a problem, as well as Neji, other hunters used to be alerted, a panther was a priceless trophy. The fire country was still mostly rural and that had worked in her favor, but even so they were already out to catch her and just as he had arrived, more pursuers would start appearing at any moment.

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The days went by, there was no news about her work. Twice a week she saw Neji in the afternoon to talk, once he mentioned that her nails looked dangerous considering she used to be with a girl, she could hurt her. She denied, and only excused herself by saying that she would cut them as soon as she got home, although it was obviously a lie because in normal they didn't look like that and even if she cut them they would sharpen again.

"Hey, your eyes!" again he had grabbed her chin and seemed to be checking them from several angles.

"What's wrong with them now?"

"It is the first time I have seen them dark," of course, it was a new moon, the only day she couldn't transform. It was good to see that the white orbs had no effect that day either, "it is quite a noticeable change for being just light."

She shrugged, pulling his hand away and continuing her story of when she was in Tani, in that village they had almost coincided but she had left one night before he arrived, he had sought her out, going on several of the raids they had done but he suspected that the panther only came out on a full moon which reinforced his theory that such a beast was a therianthrope. He had so far not mentioned anything regarding the reason for being interested in these, but it gave the impression of not being a bad thing, although he was a human and She could never completely trust these.

It was 1 night before the full moon, the beast inside her was particularly restless and she had already had a couple of mishaps, one was with an object that rolled on the ground and she chased after it ready to catch it before realizing what she was doing and only picking it up to put it back where it belonged, another was with a dog in the village, usually the canines would run away from her or at least not approach her, but the day before one seemed like a good-day-to-die and started barking at her, threatening to break free from the post he was tied to and attack her, it was inevitable to show her teeth and hiss at him. Fortunately on both occasions she had been alone, but it was unnecessarily risky.

"What do you say if we go for a drink?" he asked her, in all that time all they had been doing was sitting on one of the park benches and talking.

"It's not a good idea," it was a terrible idea, she had missed to add the other mishap that was threatening to happen and that she was fighting with all her strength to repress, the man was awakening her second instinct that she hadn't satiated for too long and the closer the full moon was the more difficult it was to stop herself from jumping on him.

"Are you sure? Because tomorrow you will not work so you do not have to worry about getting up early and it is a full moon so I will leave the village before the sun goes down," she was going to bite her lip, but even her fangs were coming out.

"Okay, but only one." Any credible excuse to use? He had already said about her job so it couldn't be that one. They were moving towards the seedy joint that called itself the village tavern. "I don't like the taste of mead."

Her hearing was fine-tuned, so she heard him perfectly when he muttered a "so do not go," and kissed her directly. They were closer to his residence so without saying more they went there, as they crossed the door it was she who approached to join their mouths again, her fangs had slightly peeked out and as soon as he introduced his tongue one of these brushed his thin lip and a slight trickle of blood spurted out, it was impossible not to lick it and her inner beast was released although her human aspect remained.

She woke up in an initially unfamiliar bed, she was used to the feeling of being mildly out of place for a few minutes after a transformation. Slowly the memories of what she had done before losing consciousness surfaced and then she noticed that next to her Neji was sleeping. Good, he was still alive.

The blanket only covered him from the waist down and she could see his broad back completely covered in scratches, some of which she could tell must have hurt, the beast inside her was chuckling in satisfaction and felt calm considering that at this point in the month she was desperate to be released. She began to review what had happened in the night and now she too shuddered in pleasure, it had been a good night. Slowly she got up to get dressed, she would bathe in the quiet of her own dwelling.

"Your submissive attitude definitely does not match the reality," he didn't seem remotely bothered by all the marks. "What are you hiding? Besides the fact that you are wild in bed."

"Nothing, I just value not drawing attention to myself," she untangled her hair before making a loose braid, contrary to all the sensation that overwhelmed her, her neck was tense and she could imagine why. "It's time for me to leave."

"I will tell you tomorrow if tonight's hunt is successful."

"I hope will be…" What word to use? "A profitable journey," for both of them. He just nodded before getting up and giving her a beautiful view of his ass one last time.

Once she was home she tossed her dress aside and reached for the mirror to check what she already suspected about her neck, it was adorned by a huge wound that at the time must have even been on the verge of bleeding. It was a completely natural thing in the midst of her instinct to mate to be held by the neck with a hard-bite, a pleasant tingle ran through her as she recalled the exact moment Neji did such thing at her request. Considering that she would be transformed that night and her healing ability, in a couple of days it would be completely gone.

She waited for a while, deciding to eat something while she let a couple of hours pass before leaving the village. He had told her that they would leave before the sun went down which meant that they would be extending the search range, and driving away several animals in the process, so she should be farther away than she had been the previous month.

The moment she transformed she began to sniff the forest, just as her human part predicted, the animals had moved away and several were more hidden than usual by the distant footsteps that could be heard. She growled under her breath, though also well received a challenge from time to time, the clumsy humans should be thankful that though she was hungry and needed to feed, she wasn't desperate as she usually was and incredibly it was thanks to one of the same humans who were trying to catch her.

She ate a weasel and just for fun she chased a couple of toads, although it was true that in case of extreme urgency she could eat them, the truth is that she had always found them disgusting. She took another couple of laps, devoured some shrews but was beginning to get frustrated, she raised her snout again, she could perceive in the distance the dog that had barked at her before and it would be a good opportunity to settle accounts, but she had to let it pass.

She heard in the distance a branch snap, the amount of footsteps that followed revealed it to be something four legged, she could bet it was a deer again, she started towards the sound and readjusted her thinking, no, it was smaller, a puppy, a fawn. It was in the middle of a clearing, too easy to be real, so she turned around and saw Neji watching her. How did it manage to move so stealthily?

"You are smart," his hands were raised towards her. "I do not want to hurt you," he spoke to her in a quiet voice, he took a step in her direction. She had partially her consciousness but she didn't dominate her body, it was the beast that had decided to sit on its hind legs although she kept alert. "Your eyes are different from feline eyes, you are not an ordinary panther," it seemed illogical to her, in her human form he saw her cat-like eyes and now in her other form he met her human eyes. He took a couple of steps and her tail began to wag from side to side, not to be mistaken for a dog, if someone made the mistake of believing that such movement meant that she was happy to see it would fall into a deadly mistake. "Calm," the missing distance disappeared and his hand caressed her under the dewlap, unleashing her purr. "You really are a majestic creature."

Sideways she saw some bushes move, and some rustling start to appear, she let herself go and didn't notice that at his back they had grouped together, a bow stood out above the bush, they didn't have a direct shot and the way they were aiming they would go through Neji just to hit her. She could just walk away, she was fast enough to outrun them in a couple of swipes but they would still hurt him, so she waited for the right moment and when the bow untensed she grabbed him by the pants, making him lose his balance and fall to the ground for a second before fleeing. Just by way of revenge for not letting her feed in peace, that night she went back to the flock and stuffed herself with a few sheep.

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All corrections and comments are always well received, they help me improve a lot.

Hope you like it.

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Att: Sally K