Author's Note: This was on request from thomasvye on livejournal, just to see what Kidoumaru thought of Kabuto. It was supposed to be a drabble, but it's not, obviously.
To Kidoumaru, Kabuto had always seemed the most autonomous of Orochimaru-sama's subordinates. So rarely there, it hardly seemed like he was a Sound-nin at all, but merely an informant, a traitor to his home village that could only be treated as an untrustworthy mercenary at best, despised for his lack of loyalty at worst. This was how it should have been, but something about the bespectacled shinobi had always demanded a quiet respect quite unlike the absolute obedience that Orochimaru-sama knew was his due, or the angry submission Kimimaro beat out of his teammates on a regular basis. Tayuya and the twins seemed largely oblivious to it, but even they were careful to be polite to Kabuto the few times he paid a visit to Otogakure to report to Orochimaru-sama. Jiroubou avoided the white-haired teenager whenever possible, and it was perhaps Jiroubou's example that Kidoumaru should have followed, for with Kabuto's quiet respect came an equally silent but even more potent menace. But Kidoumaru lacked Jiroubou's instincts about people, and even if he had possessed this sixth sense, it was likely he would have ignored all warnings regardless of their frequency, because despite Kidoumaru's much-lauded head for tactics, it wasn't his intelligence that guided the dark-skinned shinobi, but his curiosity. And Kidoumaru had never maintained any common sense to speak of.
The trust Orochimaru-sama displayed in Kabuto was sometimes nothing short of astounding, allowing the young man into areas of his lab where even Kimimaro wasn't allowed to wander. It was in one of the forbidden areas that Kidoumaru found Kabuto, because even at eleven, Kidoumaru had far too much free time on his hands to not have put upon himself the task of bypassing all of Orochimaru-sama's traps and seals that guarded his inner sanctum, and since Kabuto hadn't bothered to seek any of the Five out, Kidoumaru felt it his duty to personally get some idea of who the hell this stranger was.
From his perch upside-down on the ceiling some twenty feet above, Kidoumaru observed the bespectacled shinobi adjust a microscope for some thirty minutes before he lost patience with the exercise.
"Hey, Yakushi-san, what are you doing?"
Kabuto didn't even flinch from the unexpected question, confirming either the spy had amazing muscle control or that he had already been aware of Kidoumaru's presence. In the spider-nin's head, his respect for the older boy went up a few notches.
Considering the odd nature of their meeting, Kabuto's voice was unexpectedly friendly. "Isn't this room off-limits to your team?"
Kidoumaru had known it was a risk to reveal himself to the white-haired teen, as though Orochimaru-sama was probably aware of Kidoumaru's occasional intrusions into his laboratory, it still wasn't a good idea to show himself and ruin the game. But something in Kabuto's tone told him that he wasn't in any danger of being ratted out. So instead of looking for possible exits as was his usual course of action, Kidoumaru let his chakra-hold on the ceiling fade and dropped down to the floor about five feet to Kabuto's left, landing neatly in a crouch and straightening up with a grin. "Yeah, probably. But the temptation was just too hard to resist, you know?"
Kabuto's answer was a bright smile that didn't reach his eyes. "No, I'm afraid I don't… Kidoumaru-kun, was it?"
Kidoumaru was inexplicably disappointed. Kabuto's brilliance had always been evident in the way he interacted with Orochimaru-sama, but it was something of a letdown to find out he was sensible too. Who ever thought a spy would be practical? But still, it didn't pay to be impolite, so Kidoumaru forced a more amiable cast onto his face and nodded. "Right. So, what are you doing?"
"I'm working on a poison for Orochimaru-sama."
"Poison?" Despite his misgivings of some ten seconds earlier, Kidoumaru found his interest again piqued.
Kabuto noticed, and the smile this time was far more genuine. "I have some training in the medical arts. Our master requires a slow acting toxin for use on one of his more noxious opponents."
"Can I look?"
Kabuto nodded, and Kidoumaru quickly made his way over to the microscope, but jumped back just as swiftly less than five seconds later. "Holy shit, what is that?"
Kabuto's smile this time was indulgent. Kidoumaru wondered how the hell someone could express so many emotions moving only one muscle. "A poison."
"It was eating itself!"
"That is what this particular contagion is designed to do. It disguises itself as cells and then proceeds to devour all particles like itself, so the target's body is consumed from the inside out. Almost indistinguishable from a cancer, really."
"Wow."
Kabuto checked to see if Kidoumaru was being sarcastic. He wasn't. It was with this knowledge that the medic-nin's expression softened. Kidoumaru didn't notice, as he had already moved back to the microscope and his eyes were otherwise occupied. "Hey, Yakushi-san, any particular reason why the poison's green?"
"An unfortunate side-effect of the crossbreeding of certain bacteria. I'm trying to get rid of the color, but all of my attempts severely dilute the effectiveness of the toxin."
"Damn." This time it was with sincere regret that Kidoumaru stepped away from the microscope. "Wish I could help you, Yakushi-san, but all my training deals with is tactics and defense jutsus."
"That is unfortunate. Though… perchance, do you play chess?"
Kidoumaru's face brightened. "Yeah! But no one will play with me anymore except Orochimaru-sama." The conspiring grin the dark-skinned child shot Kabuto was one that the spy couldn't help but return. "I crush them too badly."
"We should play a game sometime. I beat Orochimaru-sama on occasion, so perhaps I can offer you more of a challenge."
"That would be great!" Kidoumaru was ecstatic. Not only was Kabuto as smart as he had hoped, but he was chess player too! "Nice to finally meet another tactician. But I have to go. I was supposed to train with Tayuya today and I'm already late. She's probably going to kill me."
The indulgent smile resurfaced. "You'd better hurry along then."
"Yeah. See you, Yakushi-san!"
Kidoumaru made a quick leap to the nearest wall and scaled up, and in a few moments he was through the large vent adjacent to the room and beyond Orochimaru-sama's traps. Kabuto hadn't been quite what he had been expecting (not quite out-there enough for Kidoumaru's tastes), but anyone who invented poisons definitely qualified as interesting. He ignored the persistent little voice in the back of his head that whispered about the ominous aura hidden right beneath the medic-nin's pleasant façade. Who cared if Kabuto was dangerous? If the guy was as good at chess as he claimed, playing a game or two was worth a little risk. And Kidoumaru would do anything for a decent challenge.
Kabuto watched the spider child disappear out of his sight, his pleasant countenance remaining until he was sure Kidoumaru was beyond his sensing radius. Even then, the happy feeling didn't fade as much as it usually did after an encounter with one of Orochimaru-sama's juvenile assassins. As foolhardy as the dark-skinned adolescent had first appeared, there was definitely intelligence under all that immature recklessness, and there was something about finding potential in unexpected places that always put a bounce in Kabuto's step. Besides, there was always considerable amusement to be found in being mistaken for a 'tactician,' though Kabuto supposed it wasn't far off the mark. And to find such a strong optimist in here of all places… such a strange world it was.
"I might have to take you up on that chess game after all, Kidoumaru-kun." Kabuto returned to his experiments, as he really couldn't afford to waste anymore time. Orochimaru-sama wanted the poison perfected by morning, and it wouldn't do to displease the sannin. Kabuto wasn't quite ready. Not yet.