This damn mission was getting worse each day.
"You didn't have to do that exactly, Shino."
Funny, it was usually Shino who was policing him about good behavior, not the other way around, Kiba reflected, standing over the bug-nin with crossed arms like a dissatisfied mother. Though Shino apparently saw nothing problematic about the events of the last couple of hours.
"I merely released my insects for the night, to allow them to get some fresh air and to get acquainted with the surroundings. A regular habit which you are very well aware of."
"We are. Sakura is not. And in such a case, waking up being covered in goddamn thousands of your bugs must not have been nice for her. Speaking from experience."
Sakura's scream and freak out when she woke up was kinda funny, he had to give him that. But this mission was already demanding as it was and maybe traumatizing the medical kunoichi who was there, you know, to help keep them all alive, in the middle of it was not such a smart idea.
"She pointed out that now as she started working at the hospital, nothing could possibly surprise her anymore. I simply decided to test the validity of that hypothesis."
Kiba rolled his eyes.
Even before this mission, he could probably count the number of ninja who were willing to go with them on missions on one hand, given the reputation of plain weird his team had in Konoha.
And after tonight, that very small number probably decreased again.
"Should we perhaps go find her and explain what happened? Maybe then she will be a bit more… accepting?" Hinata joined in, also clearly aware of their team's situation.
Kiba sighed. He could obviously track the medical ninja down to wherever she ran off to shake-off the shock, but perhaps he could give her a few minutes of privacy to recollect herself.
Though judging from Shino getting up, the insect user arrived at a different conclusion. He shot him a look.
"Are you at least going to apologize?"
"I do not believe it is necessary. Why? Because my insects are a part of me and they did nothing wrong, merely explored the area and searched for another shelter. However, I do plan to tell her something complimentary and reassuring instead to alleviate any potential strain this could have placed on our comradeship."
"Oh? Do enlighten me."
"I plan to inform her that my insects found her body to be a very attractive shelter, way more comfortable compared to you."
...
Oh, yeah, that will surely do it.
Sakura's shivering when she returned back to the base with Shino a few minutes later, still keeping at least good 2 meters from his teammate the entire time they were walking, confirmed his concerns.
Another one down.