Living in an underground dungeon had its pros and cons. On one side; it was very well hidden from the rest of the world, which was essential when you needed that the most. The cons, well, living in an dungeon.

After an year, Kabuto got used to the damp and musty place he now called home. His room was very lived in, but just as dreary as the rest of the underground area. Candles spread around the room in clusters of tall and round white stalks, giving ample light to read and write. Which was pretty much all he did. Orochimaru was training his new "apprentice" who was growing stronger and stronger each day. This left Kabuto to his own work, looking up old text books and making his own notes in an large number of scrolls of his own. This pleased him.

On an mid-summer afternoon, Kabuto was perched on an high stool in the middle of his room, hunched over an book that had to have been atleast an foot thick. Candle light flickered an reflection against his round glasses, dancing in an slow dance from the draft that went through the room. Dark eyes scanned down lines of kanji, an interesting piece about how butterfly wings were dried up and made into an interesting healing medication.

So absorbed he was by the information, the silver-haired ninja didn't notice the very slight tickle that was building in his nose, having always felt it while he lived in such an place. Sure, he was an amazing medical ninja, and he had created his own allergy-medicine in pill form. When work was as absorbing, which was usually always the case, he would forget to take them.

In an lazy and natural motion, his right hand lifted from the scroll in front of him and ran the length of his finger under his nose with an small sniff. His concentration didn't break from the book when his elbow set on the table, thumb folding under his chin and his finger pressed against the underside of his nose.

Eyebrows drew in once he looked to the other page, his lips moving inaudibly as he glanced over the symbols. His free hand went and picked up the brush that lay next to him, tearing his eyes from the book only to dip the brush tip into ink and jot down some notes.

"This might be an fluke? You've got to be kidding me..." Muttering softly to himself, he set the brush down and his eyes resumed reading. "Could have told me that earli... Hiiih'tcht!" Stopping him in mid-thought, Kabuto's eyes squeezed shut behind his glasses as his shoulders jerked into the sneeze that seemed to sneak up on him.

Sniffling once more, his finger, which helped automatically stifle the sound, rubbed his nose and thought no more about it. His attention went right back to the paragraph he was reading, though his fingers didn't move from close to his nose.

His lips parted as his mouthed as he read, absorbing the information fully. Without breaking concentration from his work, his knuckle began to rub his nose harder, an response to the itching that was starting to become harder to ignore.

Right in the middle of the explanation to why the butterfly wing remedy was labeled as an myth, Kabuto's once sharp and concentrating eyes became soft, his lips parting to inhale an soft breath before his hand cupped his nose and mouth fully.

"Hiiih'TSCH-KTSCHH!" Kabuto groaned and opened his eyes, finally giving into the annoyance of his allergies. With his free hand, he reached into his pocket, pulling out an clean handkerchief. Having made the mistake of using tissues which had been sitting around in the dusty room, he carried around handkerchiefs instead. His hand brought the cloth to his nose and softly blew into it, hoping to get some of the dust particles out that way. His free hand slipping into the pouch on his hip and rummaged around the pills inside.

Just as his fingers rested on an small circular pill, the door to his room swung open and revealed Orochimaru.

Raising an curious brow, Kabuto lowered the cloth from his face and turned in his chair. "Anything wrong, Orochimaru-sama?"

"I need you to take care of our guest. Training was hard today." The pleased look on the pale man's face told Kabuto that the training also went very well.

Nodding, Kabuto slipped the pill from his pouch and stood. The faint tickle started to grow once more, and Kabuto tried to hold the feeling back. He hated to show Orochimaru any kind of weakness.

"I'll ta...ah... take care o-of hi...him." The usual poisonous silken tone of his voice began to waver with small gasps of breath, the hand that held the handkerchief tightened in yearning.

Curving lips turned into an smirk as the snake-like man watched the younger male struggle with his body. He always head Kabuto sneezing randomly for the years they had been working together, though it was always fun to see the other fluster.

Waving an hand through the air with an shrug, Orochimaru's snake-like eyes closed. "No rush. You sound like you need to take care of yourself first, Kabuto." Yellow-green eyes rested on the medical ninja whose cheeks turned an light shade of pink.

"Y-yes, Orochima..." Unable to hold himself back any longer, Kabuto turned away from the other man, his hand lifting up to cover the lower-half of his face with the soft cloth. His shoulders tensed up before the tickle escalated into an violent fit. "Hiiih'TSCCHUM! Hiiih-hiii'TSCCHUU-TSCHHT.... HIIIH'TSSCHHU!" Groaning with an few deep sniffs, Kabuto rubbed at his nose and turned back around. "Excuse me, Orochimaru-sama." He muttered softly, taking the pill that he held between two careful fingers and popped it in his mouth.

Orochimaru just shrugged his shoulder once more, some of the black locks of hair sliding down his back with the action. "No problem at all." Turning back to the opened door, he threw over his shoulder, "I leave him in your hands." And left the room.

Scowling at the closed door, Kabuto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before giving his nose one more final rub with the cloth before stuffing it back into his pocket. An longing sigh escaped him as his gaze went over the unfinished work, only to be tied up with other things.

Just as he was heading out of his room and into the corridor of the dungeon-like housing arrangement, his nose began to itch an moment before his hand came near his face and he let out an quick double. "Hiih'tschht! Ihh'tscchh! Uhhn..." He palmed the underside of his nose with an irritated sound and rubbed hard. Though the pill was kicking in, it wasn't unusual for an few sneezes to break through.

Sniffling softly, he pushed some of the stray strands of hair from his face that had dislodged when his body jerked forward. He began down the hallway once more, wondering about butterfly wings, his mind completely off of his bothersome allergies. Just the way he liked it.