A/N: I think that was what you guys called the ship? *can't recall* Anyways, this was actually harder to write than I thought it would be. Kazue hates him so much at the moment and he's no longer hiding his true self towards her... it's difficult to go back from that XD Anyways, I hope this is what you were looking for! Lemme know if it wasn't!

Her eyes wistfully settling on the crowded merchant's shop, Kazue allowed a small sigh to escape her lips. If she was smart, she would have turned and left when her teammates had. Instead, she continued to torture herself. After-all, what fun were fireworks with no one to enjoy them with? The merchant was one of those few, traveling sorts that sold them. It might not have been time for any sort of festival, but it got the villagers excited none-the-less. The man was famous for having many small pieces that were perfect for small parties.

She sighed again, dropping her arms from her chest to shove them in the pockets of her pants. Having the day off, like most days recently, she'd worn civilian clothing. The only shinobi items left on her were her forehead protector and weapons' pouch, and those only because she didn't feel comfortable walking about without them. Honestly, if she was smart, she'd continue walking. No one had ever accused her of being overly smart, however, so she just continued to stand there and stare as others plucked items off the cart and bargained with the merchant over the prices.

When her eyes flickered shut for a short moment, she could still picture Jun's equally wistful expression when she'd asked if he could at least stay. She'd known that after visiting his favorite little shop for lunch, Noriaki would head off for training. He'd departed without as much as an apology, instead just patting her on her head as he'd gone. She'd at least thought Jun would be able to stick around and set a few off. Sure, he wasn't the most ideal company, but he was better than nothing. Besides, he was similar to a child when it came to things like this. She could easily imagine how ecstatic he would get if they got their hands on a bigger one.

Instead, however, he'd apologized, shooting a few more wistful look at the stand as he'd mumbled something about Miki sensei finally making time to practice with him before the final round of the chuunin exams. She'd sighed and waved him off, understanding the importance of the matter. Most of what their sensei was good at happened to be things that Jun had declared to be his worst subjects, as such she'd spent more time practicing with Noriaki. Jun, to his credit, had managed to squeeze a few training sessions out of Kurenai, having a strange connection with the sensei, as well as just practice on his own a lot.

Shaking her head and dislodging herself from the memory, Kazue shoved away from the large pole she'd settled her back against and turned to go. If she was just going to stand around and do nothing, she could do that at home. Or even better, she could do that on the training field. If she was going to miss out on the third round, she could at least guarantee that she'd be making it there come the next exams.

"You really are like a little kid."

Her face flushing red, Kazue spun away from the street she'd started towards, instead focusing on the dark alleyway the voice had come from.

"And you're creepy. Do you always have to pop up in dark areas?" she retorted.

He chuckled, shrugging in turn.

"Perhaps. Do you always have to be the responsible girl?"

Confused, she cocked her head.

"What?"

"Let me guess. You decided that instead of playing with fireworks like a child, you'd be better off doing something productive. That was it, right?"

When her face flushed an even deeper shade of red and she refused to look directly at him, Kabuto's lips twisted upwards in amusement. Kazue really was ridiculously easy to read. He'd never grow tired of seeing how she wore every emotion that flashed through her mind on her face.

"Maybe," she grumbled. "Didn't you just call me childish? How can I be both responsible and childish at once?"

Stubbornly crossing her arms, she jutted her chin out slightly, the challenging expression in her face saying just how sore a point he'd touched. If anything, Kabuto's amusement only grew. A quick glance over the area and a quick check of the chakra signatures told him there was no danger of stepping out to meet her. He'd just have to be quick about it. This decided, he shrugged once again and moved out of the shadows. Her obvious bluffing attempt at slightly haughty, self-assured expression faltered as he drew closer. The stubbornness, however, was nothing if not completely natural and didn't lessen even in the slightest degree.

"It's easy. You childishly love the idea of playing with the little things you could afford with your pocket money, yet you turned away, and seem to have no plans of purchasing them. Am I right?"

"Shut up."

"I am right," he continued, chuckling. "I expected as much."

Kazue glared at him for a moment then pointedly turned away and started towards the fireworks stand.

"Where are you going?"

"You're not always right, you know."

Raising a single brow, he checked the area once again before starting after her, that smug, amused expression on his face as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I highly doubt that," he easily replied. "But what do you think I have wrong?"

Shooting him an irritable look as she shoved stray strands of hair out of her face, Kazue gestured towards the stand with her free hand.

"That."

His expression was questioning.

"That?" he echoed.

"Fireworks," she explained. "I'm buying some. Then you're setting them off with me. That's it."

Without waiting for a response, she squirmed through the crowd to pluck a few things off the stand. His lips twitching upwards in amusement, Kabuto simply watched her, not bothering to argue with her order. It would seem that he'd hit a sore spot. Enough of a sore spot she'd gotten around her usual hang-up that required him to be the one to push them to do anything together. Within a matter of minutes, she'd re-emerged from the crowd around the stand, a bag of fireworks held triumphantly in her hand.

"Let's go."

Kabuto eyed the bag for a moment, amusement flickering across his face once again, before he shook his head and shouldered his way through the crowd. She peered after him, attempting to figure out what he was doing, but within a second he'd returned, hands in his pockets once again.

"Now we can go."

________________________

So, perhaps he wasn't exactly accomplishing anything with this most recent event. Although, the argument could be made that Kabuto was at least working on gaining more of her trust. Either way, he watched with unconcealed amusement as she dragged a small firework from the bag and sat it down before adjusting it not once, not twice, but dozens of times before satisfied. Seeming to become flustered over his amusement, she scowled and patted down her pockets before freezing.

"Matches?" he questioned.

"Shut up."

"Lucky for you..." he replied, pulling a hand from his pocket and flashing a small packet. "I thought ahead."

As her face flushed crimson, he stepped forward and snapped one of the matches away from the others. Gesturing for her to step back, he struck it against the box and waited for the fuse to light before he moved to join her. Instantly, the little plate began creating a rather interesting buzzing noise. Kazue eyed it uncertainly, about to step forward, when there was suddenly a little pop and it shot off towards the trees. As she blinked a few times, staring after it, Kabuto allowed a small chuckle to escape him.

"Let me guess, you were mad so you bought them, but you didn't make sure you knew what they ones you bought did."

Pointedly ignoring him, she peered in the direction it'd gone, checking for any sign of smoke. When nothing happened as a result of the metal plate landing in the trees, she dug a hand into the bag again and drug out a small tube looking firework.

"Of course I know what they do," she grumbled. "They... pop."

"Pop?"

"Pop," she insisted. "Matches."

As she put out her hand expectantly, he handed over the small pack and backed up. As soon as she'd lit the fuse, she joined him as he'd done for the last firework. This time the small delay was followed by a fountain of sparks being thrown up in the air. As her face lit up, he barely held back the urge to laugh. Her expressions were more entertaining than the fireworks could possibly be. As the firework flashed through different colors and intensity of the sparks, sometimes throwing off little bits that would pop in the air and spray sparks all about, her excited, happy expression never faded. Eventually, the sparks died down and he nudged her with his elbow at the disappointed look that appeared on her face.

"Not childish, huh?"

"Shut up," she retorted, the insult lacking any sort of venom.

As she dug in her back for another firework, she couldn't help the light smile that brushed her face. It wasn't that horrible that Jun and Noriaki had been busy, she guessed. Kabuto wasn't horrible company, even if he was a bit egotistical and seemed to enjoy teasing her about as much as Jun did.

Being friends with him could turn out to be rather enjoyable.

"Just wait till you see this next one! You'll be grinning, too!"