Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor its characters.

Author's Notes: Written for the 30 Smiles Livejournal community. I claimed the ShinoKiba pairing! X3 I'm so proud of myself...So this is going ot be a 30-shot, if I can finish it all the way through. Various styles.

This one's more into Shino's thoughts. And I was watching Leroy and Stitch while proofreading this, so there may be some mistakes I overlooked. Sixth shot, right? Enjoy!

Warning/s: Fluff at the end. A Seme!Kiba hint if you squint real hard. XD

Title: Thinking Nights
Theme(s): #16 Endless
Summary: There could've been endless possibilities.

On nights like these, when the stars were bright, and the moon was shining, Shino liked to lie down on the grass and think.

He usually thought about his bug collection, or the upcoming mission, or if he needed to buy more aspirin from the drugstore. But his thoughts always managed to drift into one particular subject.

Inuzuka Kiba.

Shino was grateful for the company of the other fifteen-year old. Kiba had shown him the other parts of life that he had not yet experienced, or dared to venture into. Shino admired his teammate for his confidence, and carefree attitude, and how he managed to stand up once again after a heavy blow. Kiba had stood up for him when they were young, protected him and Hinata from a surprise attack, and had saved his life countless times.

It wasn't surprising when Shino felt other things than platonic love for Kiba.

But it was surprising that Kiba had felt the same way as him. Shino had never expected Kiba to be gay, nor to shout out his love confession at Shino in a crowded party.

And they developed from there; holding hands, tentative kisses and lots of cuddles.

What if things didn't turn out the way they did? Shino thought with a frown.

He would still be isolated from the others. Still there, but not really. He would never have learned to love like he did, or feel secure like he did with Kiba.

Or maybe he would find someone else, someone from the opposite gender, maybe Hinata. And maybe they would love each other, but it wouldn't really be as passionate as Kiba and Shino were—or would have been.

Maybe Kiba would find someone else, and Shino would kill himself for not chasing after him.

There were endless possibilities, he thought.

"There you are, Shino," a voice behind him said.

Shino smiled. "Yeah, I'm here." He pulled Kiba down with him to rest his head on the others' chest.

"Heh, feeling cuddly?" asked Kiba as he ran his hand through Shino's dark brown locks.

"Yeah," Shino replied with a straight face. Kiba shook is head, wondering how Shino always talked stoically.

"What were you thinking of?"

Shino told his boyfriend the truth. He knew that if he didn't, Kiba would know (he could smell lies) and he would bug Shino until he complied.

"Endless possibilities, huh?" commented Kiba, grinning. "Why the heck are you worrying about those things? You're here, I'm here, and we're both happy."

Shino nuzzled his head more onto Kiba's neck. He really was feeling cuddly tonight.

"Yeah, we're both happy."