This is something that popped into my head as I was reading several fics that mention how Kiba knows when it's that time of month for Hinata because they're on the same team. Everybody seems to reference and accept the fact, but I have yet to see any fics about the fact itself. So, here it is, even if it's more of a drabble (or short series of drabbles) than a fic.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Kiba-kun!"

"Huh?" He turned and looked to see his female teammate jogging up the road toward him, a basket of herbs hanging from her wrist. He and Akamaru paused and waited for her to catch up before continuing on their walk.

"What are you doing this afternoon?"

"I…uh…training, I guess. Why?"

She smiled at him.

"I'm going down to the lake later to swim and I thought maybe you and Akamaru and Shino might like to come. I'm bringing a picnic." Her voice was hopeful.

Kiba considered it for a moment. It would be a good opportunity for him to talk to her…he took a deep breath, and then his expression turned from contemplative to panicked.

"Kiba-kun?"

"Um, sorry Hinata, I don't think I'll be able to come."

A hurt expression overtook her face.

"…oh. Okay."

"No, it's not, I mean, I'd like to, but…" He blushed a little.

"Hmm?"

"I can't today. I mean, some other time, okay?"

"Oh. Um, I guess that's okay."

He sighed. They'd been on the same team with her for a month now, and the three of them and their Sensei were still adjusting to each other. He'd meant to avoid this particular conversation as long as possible, but…he might as well get it over with so that he could escape from the smell that was bothering him. And, hopefully, spare the girl's feelings a little about why he couldn't come today.

"Sorry Hinata. It's just…I don't think you know what you do to me."

"Wha…huh?"

Kiba blushed and scratched the back of his head. Akamaru meandered a few feet away, sniffing the base of a shrub.

"Hinata, um, well, you know…" He looked around desperately for a way to escape before he had to explain it, but he came up empty.

"What is it?"

"Well, see, you know how I have this super sense of smell?"

Hinata turned bright red, and Kiba was almost certain that she'd understood his meaning. He drew in a deep breath, preparing to sigh in relief that it had gone easier than he'd anticipated.

"D-do I stink?!" She clamped her arms down to her sides, afraid that there was an odor emanating from underneath that was giving her teammate's sensitive nose some trouble.

Kiba's sigh of relief died instantly and he visibly sagged. He shook his head slowly.

"No, that's not it."

"But…what then, Kiba-kun?"

He looked around one last time in the hopes that he might find a way to avoid having this extremely awkward conversation, because his mom had made it clear over breakfast that he was not to come home until he'd explained his abilities –and all that came with them- to his female teammate. But maybe he could put it off another few hours, anyway.

And as if hearing his mother order him to explain his primal urges to a teammate wasn't bad enough, it only made things worse that he knew there was no escaping this. She did need to know, after all, and for that matter so did Kurenai-sensei. But Sensei was a jonin, so she had probably already figured it out.

Which left Kiba with the task of informing Hinata about parts of himself he wished he could will away.

Just as he was about to break down and spill everything in one superbly rushed sentence, a ray of hope blasted onto the scene in the form of Kurenai-sensei strolling through the market a little ways away. His face lit up.

"Um, Hinata, I'll, uh, tell you later. I'll see you at training tomorrow! Bye!"

He turned and bolted down the street toward the market, leaving a very bewildered Huuga heir in his wake.

When he skidded to a halt in front of Kurenai-sensei, he noticed that she was walking with a rather large and scary-looking man with a beard and a cigarette. At least he was smiling, though, and it might explain why she often smelled like smoke.

Kiba didn't bother with a greeting; he was panting too hard.

"Uh, Kurenai-sensei, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Concern and curiosity flickered across her pretty red eyes and she glanced up at her companion.

"Sure. What's up?"

Kiba glanced at her intimidating companion, who was looking amused around his cigarette.

"Um…alone?"

Kurenai turned to the larger shinobi.

"I'll be right back." She started walking toward a slightly less crowded spot a few yards away, gesturing for Kiba to follow. He obeyed, and when they were out of hearing distance of anybody familiar, she turned to face him and waited.

He considered how to start, because he had been too nervous about telling Hinata to try to figure out a way to talk to Sensei, but he finally decided he might as well just jump in and get the awkwardness over with.

"So, um…"

"Come on, Kiba. It's okay. What's wrong?"

"Are you friends with my mom or sister?"

Kurenai's eyebrows arched slightly.

"I know who they are, but I've never really talked to either of them much. Why?"

"Well…my mom's gonna kill me tonight."

Kurenai smiled.

"Now why would she do that?"

Kiba scuffed his shoe in the dirt, staring intently at it like it was creating a work of art as he mumbled.

"Because she told me I had to explain something to Hinata that I have no idea how to explain to her."

"To Hinata?"

"Yeah."

There were a few seconds of awkward silence, and it was Kurenai who finally broke it.

"Well, what are you supposed to explain?"

Kiba felt his cheeks warm up a little.

"Um…well, see…you know how…my sense of smell is a lot stronger than most people's?"

"Of course."

He scuffed and lowered his voice a little more.

"My mom is making me explain to Hinata…exactly…how good my sense of smell is."

Kurenai frowned.

"I'm not sure I follow."

His blush intensified.

"That I can smell…you know…girl stuff."

Realization dawned on Kurenai-sensei, and Kiba wished the ground would swallow him up. There was a soft smile in her voice when she spoke again.

"I see. That's nothing to be ashamed of, Kiba. Every ability has its down side, and that just happens to be yours."

"I know," he mumbled. He wished the other half of his confession would just go away, but he knew it wouldn't so he stayed put.

"But…why is your mom making you tell Hinata?"

He turned bright red, and he knew there was nothing he could do to hide his fierce blush from his sensei any more than he could avoid answering the question. He mumbled something, and Kurenai frowned.

"What was that? You're going to have to speak up a little."

"I said, because it's not just that smell!"

The kunoichi's eyebrow quirked upward, not quite understanding his meaning.

"What…other smells?"

"Well…um…see…I don't really know how to explain it…"

"It's okay. Just try."

"Well, when…" he trailed off and ventured a glance up at her, finding her smiling patiently down at him. He swallowed before he continued. "Please don't get offended by this, Sensei, but it's the only way I know to explain." She nodded, and he returned his attention to his feet. "It's kind of the same thing as when one of the girl dogs is in heat."

Kurenai was quiet for a moment as she puzzled over her student's explanation.

"You mean, you smell it when a woman is most fertile?"

He nodded dejectedly, still bright red.

"And your mom wanted you to explain it to Hinata because…?"

He looked up at her with 'duh' written all over his tomato-colored face, mortified that she was going to make him say it. Fortunately, his expression must have said it for him because Kurenai's eyes widened.

"Oh. Right. Distraction."

He gave a tiny nod, and then there was another tense pause.

"Is that going to be a problem for you, being on a team with two females?"

He shook his head and mumbled again, and Kurenai rolled her eyes.

"What did you say?"

"I said no, it's just…I don't want to make anything awkward for anybody else, or get…distracted in the middle of a mission or training or something."

"Well, then how can we avoid that?"

"I'm learning to ignore it, but…" He paused and Kurenai smiled amusedly at the top of his shaggy head. "…mom said that until I learn to completely control it, I should ask you and Hinata-especially Hinata-to keep your distance…around…uh…then."

"Why especially Hinata?"

Kiba hadn't thought it was possible for his face to burn any hotter, but it did. He was sure that his skin matched the triangles on his cheeks.

"Hinata just smells really, uh, strongly. Because, well…you know…she's just now…not like, uh, you…and like this morning, when she asked me and Shino to go swimming with her…"

Kurenai nodded slowly.

"Because her body is just now…changing?"

He nodded again at the ground.

"That's fair enough, but what about on missions? Sometimes distance is a hard thing to accomplish."

If Kiba could have died of embarrassment right then, he would have preferred to do so. Instead he just nodded again.

"I know. I'll get better at controlling my, uh, 'reactions and impulses' over the next few years, Mom says, but until I…um…until I'm good at it, I just need to be upwind…you know…if I have to be close to either of you."

"I see. I think we can manage that."

"It's not all the time, you know. It's just…uh…"

Kurenai smiled fondly down at her floundering student.

"Just twice a month?"

He glanced up at her. The blush was beginning to fade some of its intensity, but it wouldn't be disappearing completely for an hour or two.

"Well, actually, just once. I can smell the…um…the gross one, but it doesn't bother me like…well, you know…like the other one."

Kurenai's red eyes sparkled in amusement, but she kept from laughing at his discomfort.

"I see." She reached a hand out to ruffle his hair fondly. "Don't worry, Kiba. Your mom was right to have you explain it."

The Inuzuka boy looked like he might die on the spot, apparently not agreeing.

"It doesn't weird you out? I mean, knowing that…" He couldn't bring himself to finish the statement.

Kurenai crouched down to one knee to meet him at his eye level, then continued.

"No, it doesn't weird me out. This is part of being a team. We all have to get used to each other's strengths and weaknesses, and help each other. Your sense of smell is a great asset, and we'll do everything we can to help you. There's nothing awkward about it. Okay?"

He nodded timidly.

"Uh, Kurenai-sensei, can I ask you one more mondo-huge favor?"

"What's that?"

He shifted his gaze around uncomfortably.

"I don't think I can tell Hinata, and my mom will kill me if I don't talk to her about it by tonight."

Kurenai grinned and stood up, smoothing out her red and white dress as she did so.

"Don't worry. I'll talk to her."

Kiba's eyes widened hopefully.

"You will?"

She nodded.

"Sure. I think it might embarrass her as much as it embarrasses you, so we won't talk about this anymore unless it gets to be a problem, okay?"

Kiba grinned at the kunoichi.

"You're the best, Kurenai-sensei!" Then he was off and running, with Akamaru mysteriously materializing at his heels as the duo got lost in the crowd.

She walked back over to Asuma, chuckling slightly at her student's awkwardness.

"What was that about?"

"Just some team stuff."

"Oh?"

She nodded and scanned the crowd. After a moment, a flash of white caught her eye. She looked up at Asuma.

"Can I catch up with you in a little while? I need to go catch Hinata before she wanders off."

"Sure. Not gonna tell me what that was about?"

She smiled.

"Maybe later. Right now I need to go."

The Next Day

"Kiba, you're late."

"Sorry, Sensei."

The other three members of Kiba's team had already gathered on the training grounds when Kiba and Akamaru ran up to meet them.

He hadn't seen any of them since the previous day, so he had been late on purpose to make sure he didn't have to spend any time alone with Hinata before Shino and Kurenai-sensei arrived.

There was a momentary pause as Kurenai seemed to be waiting for an explanation for his tardiness, but he just grinned up at her with an expression that said he had no excuse or wasn't going to tell her what it was. At least things were normal between them, it seemed. He looked at his two classmates.

Shino didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, or if he did, he wasn't letting on. Hinata, though, was staring intently at a stick on the ground looking a little embarrassed.

"Morning, Hinata." She glanced up at him and blushed, and he gave her a crooked smile to let her know that he wasn't mad at her or anything like that. She tentatively smiled back.

"Good morning."

Kurenai cleared her throat.

"Today, instead of working on group forms like we planned, I think we're going to do a little sparring. Shino and Kiba will work together, and Hinata will be with me. Is everyone clear?"

Three responses of 'hai' echoed through the training field, one energetic, one apathetic, and one shy. Akamaru yapped.

"Good. Later this afternoon, we'll do some conditioning. Let's get going."

With that, the pairs moved off in opposite directions, with Kiba leading Shino upwind from the two kunoichi.

So...what did you think? Should I continue to explore this?