Their mission was finished, and Hinata was slowly cheering up over the months, bringing Kiba relief. Team 8 was on their way home and set up a tent to sleep for the night. Kiba had been acutely attuned to Hinata's smells the entire time, involuntarily. Every night they managed to set up camp and sleep, he, Shino, Hinata, and Akamaru dog piled as they had always done for the night. Since they were young, Kiba had spent many nights convincing his teammates this was the way to go for heat and security, it wasn't weird. Just in the last couple of years did they finally stop putting up a fight and conceded that it was indeed comforting to sleep as a group together.

But now that Hinata was single again and seemingly giving off signs of interest to Kiba, it was becoming increasingly difficult for Kiba to sleep throughout the night on the mission. Their last night out, as they were piled together, Shino and Akamaru snoring obnoxiously and Hinata still as a feather, Kiba lay wide awake. Shino and Akamaru were curled up on his sides and Hinata's head rested on his chest, all of their bodies intertwined to some degree. In the past, this way of sleeping was of ultimate comfort to Kiba out on missions, reminding him of home. But he couldn't get his mind off of the way Hinata smelled, the soft trusses of her hair draping over his hands, her gentle breathing. It was driving him insane.

Then, she got up. This wasn't unusual, he knew she woke up in the middle of the night sometimes to check out the site, do some walking and dancing. He'd caught her plenty of times before, checking on her. But now, he was aching to follow her. He wanted to see what she was up to. If she was up to dance, he wanted to see it. He loved how she moved, even before he started showing interest in her. She was elegant and beautiful. So, he waited for a few minutes to pass before getting up himself, gently moving Shino's hand and Akamaru's head from himself. When Akamaru whined, he shushed him and indicated with a tilt of his head that he was stepping out. Akamaru grumbled before resting his head back down.

Kiba quietly zipped the tent back up behind him before scanning the area, inhaling a big whiff. When he caught her scent, he followed his nose towards the east. The moon was full tonight, illuminating every surface. When he could hear her, he stopped and squinted, trying to pick her out. When he spotted her in the lake, he choked on his own saliva. She was naked, he was pretty sure based on her top half. He couldn't see anything in particular, just her neckline and up, but he still let out an involuntary, audible whine. As soon as he did, she let out a quiet gasp and disappeared. She had jumped out of the water, then her clothing off to the side disappeared, and she was gone.

"Fuck," Kiba breathed, stomach tightening at the thought she sensed him. He wondered if she knew it was him or thought it was just some random creep.

You're still the creep in this scenario.

Kiba let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head as he turned around, trying to make way back to the tent before Hinata could. Then, she appeared in front of him.

"Kiba?"

Shit.

"H-Hinata." Now he was the one stuttering and stumbling. Her eyes were wide, tips of her hair wet, but fully clothed now. She was eyeing him as he regained composure, grabbing the nearest tree. "Sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"What are you doing out here?" Hinata questioned, stepping forward. His heart pounded.

"I-I was just checking on you. Making sure you were okay-I was just going back to the tent now that I knew you were…okay."

"Oh." Hinata tilted her head, face red. Kiba didn't realize his face was blood red as well. "Kiba…are you hot?"

"What?" Kiba furrowed his eyebrows, pulling away from her. "I-I'm hot?"

"Warm." Hinata spoke gently, looking up into his eyes. Kiba gulped, patting his own face.

"Oh, right-yeah, it's a little warm." He saved himself, pressing his cool hands against his own cheeks. Her face broke into a shy smile, and he could have passed out from a mixture of feelings, unsure what was right.

"It's freezing…"

"I run warm."

"Of course."

Kiba eyes were anywhere but on her, he couldn't bare to look at her. He was tongue tied, and those eyes were boring a hole into him.

Calm down.

He took a deep breath and lifted his eyes to meet hers, surprised to find a smirk on her face. He snapped, "if it's freezing, what were you doing?"

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, and he couldn't help but rest his eyes on her mouth. What would it feel like to take that bottom lip between his own teeth. "It's a hot spring."

"Oh." He barely muttered, fists clenching.

"If I had known it was you…I wouldn't have fl-fleed." She was rocking on her heels, but all he could do was focus on the scents around him. Pine, freshwater, lilac, and serotonin.

Damn was she exuding serotonin.

"Sorry."

Silence fell again, Kiba searching his brain.

"What's going on?"

They both shot up to find Shino in the distance, hands buried in his pockets, eyes covered by his shades but eyebrows visibly raised.

"Sh-Shino!" Hinata gasped, breaking their gaze.

"Just checking on a noise." Kiba spoke quickly, already heading towards the tent.

"Hmm?" Shino hummed, head following Kiba.

"R-Right-" Hinata followed, brushing passed Shino.

"Alright." Shino spoke flatly, walking after them.

Kiba huffed, a million thoughts racing through his head.

What was that? Was she hinting at something? Is he just dumb for hesitating?

As they all crawled back into the tent and curled up once more, he noted Hinata's distinct smell. It was a mixture of her usual smell, but with something different…something he could usually only pick up on in intimate situations. Then, she wrapped her arm around his waist and squeezed, a bit more forward than she normally was. When he rested his hand on her back, her nose nuzzled against his chest and his breath hitched in his throat.

"Hmm…" she hummed as his hand gently squeezed the material of her sweater, "goodnight."

"Goodnight."

"Night, Hina."