"Just a question. A simple, stupid, but totally necessary question," Kabuto said, his teeth snapping together in pure irritation as he rounded on Nikki, his black eyes narrowed to slits as he observed the female's bemused expression.

She sat on the bed in the room, her head tilted to the side as she watched him, obviously unaware of the fury and chaos she was invoking in his mind.

"Is it impossible for you to do something so simple as stay where the hell I leave you?!" he spat her, suddenly blowing his top, stalking the short three feet distance between them to grab her by the shoulders; barely resisting the urge to shake her. "Is it that hard to follow my instructions?! Do you have any idea at all what the hell you did to me when I came back to the lab and found you weren't there?!"

"I imagine it upset you because you had to postpone your experiments?" she guessed, leaning back, violet eyes wide in alarm, as she took in his furious expression; the flames leaping in his eyes should have been warning enough for her but for some reason she couldn't fathom she just couldn't take a hint tonight.

Normally, the fact that he was so livid with her might have been cause for concern, given she knew the damage he could inflict both physically and mentally when his anger was roused. But tonight, the knowledge that she had given him cause to worry, no matter for what reason, had excited her. She'd relished in the fact of his concern at her miraculous disappearance, and now, just the feel of his hands on her, no matter how brutal or bruising, turned her stomach over in sheer delight. She must be high, she concluded sardonically. Only someone high would have enjoyed how Kabuto was presently treating her… Though, all things considered, it wasn't exactly bad treatment. Just harsher-than-necessary treatment.

"You outrageous female," Kabuto all but snarled at her, then paused, glanced at his hands, and lifted them before her eyes. "I itch, do you hear me? Actually itch to throttle you, or shake some fucking sense into you for that matter."

"Are you that annoyed that I threw off your experiment?" she demanded, rather astounded.

"Screw the experiment!" snapped Kabuto, throwing his hands in the air in total exasperation. "Screw it all! The only problem I had with your fucking Houdini act was the fact that I didn't fucking know where you fucking were!"

Nikki was very quiet for a moment, staring openly, trying to think of something witty to say, but all she managed to come up with—and she regretted it the moment it came out of her mouth—was, "That's a lot of fucking going on there."

"You…!" Kabuto seized her shoulders yet again in his incredibly powerful grip, his knuckles turning white as his fingers bit down into her skin, "Are so close…to making me lose my patience, woman…"

"I thought you'd already lost it," she replied, then bit down hard on her tongue to keep herself from letting out any more stupid comments that may or may not get her killed and/or maimed.

In the mean time, Kabuto had closed his eyes tightly, his expression close to one of pain as he bowed his head, breathing deeply to keep his unruly temper under control. Just watching him was enough to give Nikki the strong impression that she had very nearly pushed his restraint to its breaking point. Why did it seem like today was the day for her to enjoy his misery, she wondered? To be honest, she wasn't even sure if it was his misery that she was enjoying so much as the simple knowledge that her minor escape of a few minutes had been enough to send him reeling with fear for her…at least that's what it felt like…

Perhaps she was simply delusional; being foolish enough to believe that he cared where she was; at least when it concerned her. He was a medic, and Orochimaru's medic at that; nothing mattered to him aside from his work and his ill master…and nothing ever would…

"Hey, stupid," snapped Kabuto, and Nikki jolted and yelped in pain as he brought the flat of his hand across the side of her head, knocking her sideways. "Look at me and listen when I'm talking to you! I wasn't finished being pissed off!"

"I doubt you ever will be," she muttered, shoving herself back into a sitting position and gingerly rubbing the side of her skull.

"What did you say?" he growled.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him with her eyes stretched wide, feigning innocence.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust for a moment, then sighed and turned away from her.

"Why do I bother?" he snarled under his breath. "Why do I even bother trying to talk to you? You never take anything I say seriously, so it's just a waste of my breath and my time!"

"Hey, I listen!" she snapped indignantly. "You just don't say anything worth listening to. You're always serious; you never take a fucking break from anything! It's always work and experiments and I get sick of it. If I didn't make a few jokes now and then I'd die of boredom in that stupid lab of yours. Why do you think I got out for a while? I was tired of sitting in there waiting for you to do something worth my attention!"

"Is that what it is?" Kabuto let out a scornful laugh, his eyes hard as he glared at her. "Sheer boredom?"

"I want you to pay attention to me!" she burst out unexpectedly, then cut off short, gasping in horror as she realized what she'd just said.

Her eyes wide, she stared at Kabuto, and he stared directly back at her, his jaw slackening and his eyes bulging as though someone had just hammered him in the gut. His hands, which had maintained a steady grip on her shoulders, suddenly went limp and fell away. He mouthed wordlessly, the image he presented extremely reminiscent of a beached fish, until, seeming to finally compose himself, he closed his mouth, cleared his throat quite loudly, and briefly averted his gaze, apparently incapable of facing her.

"Would you mind repeating that?" he asked, his voice carefully controlled, professional, and it irritated the hell out of Nikki like nothing else in the world could.

"You heard me, you jackass," she snapped. "I wanted your attention! Is it that hard to understand? All you've done since I got here is treat me like some stupid white lab rat! Yeah, I get that's what I'm here for, but it'd be nice if you actually gave me some acknowledgement as a human being every once in a while. I'm not some mindless puppet you can just stab needles with whenever you fucking feel like it! And, just for the record, I hate needles. I really, truly loathe them. Don't ask me why, I just do, so I'm doing you some huge favors letting you impale me every other hour of the day."

For some reason, this newly disclosed fact got Kabuto's avid attention, and he looked up at her with his dark eyes large and gleaming with surprise.

"You…don't like needles?" he asked, clearly amazed. "But you've never said anything before. You don't even act like it bothers you; you just sit there and take it. Why the hell didn't you say anything, I could have made a tablet for you to take orally or something!"

Now it was Nikki's turn to look at him. Her violet eyes were enormous as she gazed at him, and Kabuto found himself suddenly entranced by the gleaming night colored orbs.

"But…" Nikki's brow furrowed, "You don't like using pills, because they don't go directly to the bloodstream. You told me that the first day I was here."

That brought Kabuto up short, as he realized she was right. He had been very clear on his dislike of oral medications and experimentations, as they were not as swift in reaching the bloodstream, and therefore not as effective as a direct injection through a syringe…so why was he sitting here telling her if she'd only told him of her dislike for needles that he would have changed the process? Stupid…!

"Uh…" He ran a hand through his snowy hair, his eyes darting around the room, as though seeking his answer in his surroundings, but failing to find it. "I just…ahem, just because I don't like them doesn't mean I won't use them."

"You told me you wouldn't use them," she contradicted him immediately, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"Did I?" Did he sound frantic? Damn it all, he did…and he felt frantic. His mind was reeling and his heart was beginning to pick up speed, a telltale sign that he was under pressure. "You must have misheard me."

"I didn't 'mishear' anything," she said coolly, and the corner of her mouth twitched in the beginnings of a smirk.

"I'm sure you did," he argued coldly, lifting his nose at her, his coal black eyes narrowing to mere slits. "I know what I said."

"Oh, yeah?" She cocked an eyebrow at him. "I call your bluff, Yakushi."

"You're trying my patience," he growled.

"Where have I heard that before?" she joked. Kabuto didn't smile.

"Just shut up," he grumbled, and surprised her beyond believing by leaning forward and resting his forehead on her shoulder, heaving a deep sigh of resignation as he did so. "I'm so tired right now…you really have no idea how much you manage to wear me out…just by making me worry…"

"…Come again?" she stammered.

Kabuto sighed again, this time sounding tiredly amused, rather than resigned by this point.

"Just shut up," he repeated softly. "Please, please, just shut up, Nikoru…"

Nikki went very still…her mind slowing to a complete halt as she heard his words…heard him say her name… He'd never said her name before…

She felt her heart somersault in her chest, and she didn't realize she was smiling until he turned his head to look up at her, and asked quietly, "Why are you smiling?"

"Why not?" she replied, still smiling down at him.