It was with a frown on his face that Kimimaro came to the conclusion that Kidoumaru was a disease.

Kimimaro had first noticed something very strange several weeks after beating his fellow teammate into the ground, breaking several of the younger's arms in the process. After the incident, whenever they passed in the halls afterwards, Kidoumaru would look not look Kimimaro in the eye. The darker-skinned male would continue to walk down the hall as if Kimimaro was not there at all.

No. That was incorrect. He would nod his head slightly, the only acknowledgement that he had noticed the elder and then continue to walk at an even pace towards the gaming room, where the twins would most surely be waiting.

It had not bothered him at first. After all, it was a way that Kidoumaru was showing his respect for the Kaguya, and acknowledging that he was inferior to the elder. As it should be, of course—the six-armed man usually had no tact or sense of how to act around his superiors except for Lord Orochimaru.

However, after some time for some very obscure reason, Kimimaro felt pain whenever Kidoumaru did this. It wasn't the sort of pain that came with being flooded with sudden power, nor was it the sort of pain that came with ripping out your bones. No, this pain ached in your stomach, giving it a faint squeeze every time you thought about your comrade-of-sorts simply avoiding your gaze.

In the end, he chalked it up to ripping out one too many ribs and made a note to himself that it was probably time to start using his humerus to guard instead.

However, when the pain refused to stop after a period of three weeks of Kidoumaru continuing to be silent around Kimimaro (a rare feat on the formerly mentioned sound ninja's part), his face started to appear when Kimimaro closed his eyes to rest, and he started to wonder about how Kidoumaru really thought about him—that was when he knew he had a problem.

And of course, with most of his problems, he went to Kabuto.

"I don't understand it," he said monotonously as Kabuto stared at him over the clipboard. The gray-haired man was almost impossible to read, and Kimimaro often felt strangely uneasy around him, despite the fact that he was his doctor. "It is almost as if…something is burning my insides when he does that. I do not know if he did something to me at our last spar, but whatever it is, I would like to know immediately."

Kabuto continued to stare at him. There was no outward reaction to what Kimimaro had just said, but for some very strange reason, Kimimaro had the feeling that Lord Orochimaru's right hand man—was laughing at him. Rather loudly.

And he did not like it one bit.

"Do you know the cure, Kabuto?" he asked evenly. The machine measuring his heartbeat continued to beep slowly.

Kabuto cleared his throat once, then twice before scribbling something down onto his clipboard. Kimimaro could feel the gray-haired medic begin a new act, put on a new face—the face of the seriously concerned doctor.

The man felt his throat clog.

"How long has this been going on again, Kimimaro?"

The white-haired man frowned, calculating the time span. "About three to five weeks."

"Never before?"

"No."

"And this only happens around Kidoumaru?"

Kimimaro nodded, not seeing where this was going. He had already explained this to the medic, had he not? Had he not been clear when he had been trying to explain?

"Does he seem to affect anyone else?"

Kimimaro shook his head. "I have not witnessed any changes in the others' demeanors."

The elder shinobi adjusted his glasses. "Are there any other symptoms?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Other symptoms?"

Kabuto sighed, shifting in his seat. The machine continued to beep steadily, even as Kimimaro sat up. "For example, does your heart beat faster around him? Do your cheeks feel warm when he gets close to you? Perhaps your palms get sweaty?"

The only indication that Kimimaro was thinking over what Kabuto had just said was the slight crease in his forehead. "A bit."

"Which one?"

"All of them. Particularly the first."

"I see," Kabuto muttered, adjusting his glasses again. His mouth was pursed into a small frown, his eyes solemn. "I think I know what the problem is."

Immediately, the white-haired Kimimaro was at rapt attention. "You do?"

"Yes." Kabuto nodded his head sadly, and Kimimaro's heart (or what was left of it, anyways), lurched. "I'm afraid you are ill, Kimimaro, with what is commonly known as 'the Crush'."

"What does it do?"

Orochimaru's right hand man proceeded to make a few notes on his clipboard. "It induces illogical feelings of affection from one human to another, despite gender, though sometimes, that can play into it as well. The Crush can last from a few weeks to years—to this date, it has tortured and killed many shinobi of low and high caliber."

For once, Kimimaro let his guard slip down, his eyes widening. "Is it that serious?"

Kabuto's lips twitched. Barely twitched, but Kimimaro could see them. His eyes narrowed. "Kabuto."

"Calm down, Kimimaro," Kabuto said, quite calm himself despite the fact that his patient was sending him a glare worthy of Uchiha Itachi. In fact, if the man had a pair of Sharingan at this moment, Kabuto would probably be on the floor writhing in pain. "It's a very mild condition, though it can turn serious if we don't treat it."

"Tell me," was the instant demand. "I cannot afford to be a liability to Lord Orochimaru any more than I already am."

Kabuto felt his lips twitch again.

"Well," he said calmly, sitting down across from Kimimaro, "first, you have to tell Kidoumaru what's going on."

"About this illness?"

The elder boy nodded gravely. "Yes."

"Should I tell Lord Orochimaru?"

Kabuto briefly considered. "No, for the time being."

"Why?"

"He has too much on his mind right now." Kabuto sighed, leaning back in his chair. "There are many more things that one must do to rid of the Crush, but I can only tell you one more thing for now. If you do too much right now, it'll strain the illness even further and could end up in your death."

Without any further hesitation, Kimimaro leaned forward, anticipating Kabuto's every word.

Thirty minutes later, when Kimimaro left Kabuto's office, Kabuto busied himself with adjusting the monitors.

And it was only when he was completely, completely sure that Kimimaro was out of ear range that he began laugh quietly.

Despite being a formidable shinobi, a cold-hearted killer and a terrifying adversary, Kimimaro was still horribly naïve.

Because I decided that I needed to work on some crack pairings and a few more to learn how to write Kidoumaru. Because I want to be able to write him ICly for once. It was also a bit difficult to keep Kimimaro in character and still have all his loyalties to Orochimaru. :|a So I guess this is practice?

...man, I feel bad for Kidoumaru. XD