Time and fevers burn away

Individual beauty from

Thoughtful children, and the grave

Proves the child ephemeral (short-lived, fleeting, temporary)

But in my arms till day break

Let the living creature lie,

Mortal, guilty…

Lullaby, W.H. Auden

Chapter 2

"Are y-you gonna be my f-friend?" Kazumi questioned, staring up at Kakuzu with big, pouty eyes.

Hidan smacked his forehead and glared at her. He was starting to wish that they had gagged her. But of course, Kakuzu hadn't listened to him when he said that she was a jabber mouth who, for some reason, seemed to think that they took her to be her friend. Yes, because kidnappers/killers kidnap little/teenage girls to be friends with them. Damn she was stupid.

Kakuzu looked at her briefly before turning his attention back to Hidan, "Why didn't you silence her?"

"YOU TOLD ME FUCKING NOT TO!"

Kazumi's eye twitched and her voice lowered slightly, "I don't like that word."

Hidan glared at her, "Oh no one fucking cares. See, listen, fuck fuck fucking fuck!"

Her lip trembled and she started to cry loudly, hiding her face in her hands.

"Make her be quiet," Kakuzu ordered, pointing at the female.

"Me?!" The Jashinist shook his head, "Oh hell no! You're the one that said we needed to kidnap her!"

"Hidan."

He narrowed his eyes and snapped, "What?!"

"Did you bind her?" His counterpart questioned.

"Of course I fucking bound her hands! What do you think I am stupid?!"

"Yes, because she's running off."

"WHAT!?" Hidan turned looked behind himself quickly and spotted the girl.

Well, she was running off, but not really. She was chasing after a butterfly calling it by different birds

' names. A large smile was plastered on her face as she jumped up to catch it in her small hands.

Hidan waved his hand at her as if to brush her off and grumbled, "She ain't fucking going anywhere anyways."

"Blue bird!" Kazumi shouted, jumping up again to try and get the insect.

Her bottom lip trembled as she failed to grab it. She really wanted to catch the birdie, but she just wasn't tall enough. Perhaps the tall man, the one whom she met first anyways, would help her.

"Sweetie you should run away, these men…they're not good men," her mother's voice whispered. "I don't want anything to happen to my baby girl Kazumi."

"Your mother is right, run while you can, before they decide that you aren't who they think you are," her voice rang, deeper then what would be considered normal for a young girl.

Her blue eyes shifted to the side and she focused on the silvered haired man, slowly lowering her hands back down to her side, then spoke, her voice smooth and cold, "No, he interests me."

Looking down at the forest floor her eyes watered and she kicked at the slightly damp leaves that surrounded her. She was tired, suddenly, and she couldn't seem to figure out why. Sleep, it sounded good, and comforting, but she didn't want to sleep, why should she have t o sleep, when she now had new friends that she wanted to play with?

It was late evening by the time that the group had managed to reach any water sources. The girl crazy girl had been complaining the whole time about how thirsty she was. A few times, Hidan had noticed, she'd seemed more malevolent then before. But before either of them could question her on it she would suddenly burst into to tears and apologize for only god knows what. Hidan would curse at her to shut up and then go back to his own business.

Kakuzu on the other hand simply ignored her to the best of his abilities. In his head though he was keeping track of the different tones that she used, and so far, he had noticed four in total. He supposed that it had something to do with the way she'd lived her life thus far, not like it mattered at all. They planned to end her life on the leader's say so, but even if the leader didn't say so they still would, for there was a large bounty on her head, and surely the leader would understand if he killed her, seeing as Kakuzu had to deal with all of the funding for the organization.

Kazumi on the other hand, had her hands bound behind her back and her chin held high for the moment. Her parents told her to be strong, so that's what she tried to do. However when she allowed her mind to waver for even a moment she found herself cursing and yelling with venom and that made her upset. She didn't want to hurt or upset her new friends. They were her only friends, the only friends she'd ever had, the only people she'd ever seen, besides her doctors and the children that played outside of her window.

Occasionally Kazumi would look over at the man whom had broke into her room and found herself fascinated in every way. It scared her though, how whole she could feel just by looking at the man. Startling, that's what it was. Every time her eyes passed him every part of her was focused on him instead of on multiple things. She'd never felt so complete. But still there were conflicts raging within her mind: her parents screamed for her to flee while their backs were turned; her childish mind wanted nothing more than to simply play with her new friends; her older spirit simply wanted to figure out what they were up to but at the same time was completely amused with how the silver haired man acted when she made him angry.

Kazumi's blue eyes dropped as she stared at the greenness of the grass. She'd never thought that the color could be so brilliant, for it had looked dull and boring from behind the glassed windows. She couldn't resist her new urge as she pulled her socks from her feet with some difficulty and padded through the grass. It felt cool against her warm skin, and it tickled and pricked at her. A truly happy smile lit her features as she walked through it. The feeling was amazing, something she'd thought she'd never feel, and now that she had she knew that she'd never be the same. She wanted to experience everything; she wanted to feel everything, to see for her own two eyes what a rainbow looked like.

Her blue eyes wondered back to the backs of the men in front of her, "…Misters…"

Hidan was the only one to turn and look at her, he looked clearly annoyed, then his eyes bugged out slightly when he noticed her once white socks behind them, "Bitch what do you think you're doing?! If you get a fucking sliver or something don't expect me to help you out."

Part of her wanted to laugh and another actually made her look down in shame for the fact that she'd made her friend upset. She didn't want to make him upset…

Kazumi's head snapped up and a cold smile spread across her face as she leaned towards him slightly, "I will never need help from the likes of you."

Hidan raised an eyebrow then scowled. He looked over at his teammate, "Can we please fucking tape the bitch's mouth?!"

Kakuzu's green eyes wondered over to Hidan briefly then back to the road ahead, "How about I just stitch both your mouths shut."

"WHAT?!" Hidan snapped, leaning away slightly. "What the hell did I do wrong!?"

Sniffling came from behind them, "P-Please stop b-being u-upset, I-I didn't mean t-to h-hurt anyone's f-feelings."

Her voice hardened and her eyes dried up, "I've done nothing wrong, you're the idiots who didn't bind me properly."

Hidan looked back at her with an extremely annoyed look his face, "Look bitch. You'd better stop this split personality shit or I'm gonna come back there and teach you a lesson being tied up that you ain't gonna fucking forget!"

Kazumi's eyes watered up again and her bottom lip trembled with her emotion. Her small frame shook and her hair fell around her as if to comfort her from the stare of the man. If she could she'd hold herself tightly and perhaps…she didn't know what she'd do. She felt strange and outta place, she felt open, and her parents weren't talking as much as they used to, that scared her. She didn't want them to go away, not again…

Hidan scoffed and looked ahead again. His lavender eyes looked at Kakuzu after a short while, he opened his mouth only to be silenced by the green eyed man who stated that he didn't want to hear any preaching's of Jashin.

He growled, "Oi money-whore, who do you think you are silencing one of Jashin-sama's greatest followers?! I swear to Jashin in front of the bitch that when you're time comes I'll be the one to fucking kill you! I'll do it slow too! I promise that you fucker! Maybe then you'll listen to me and the great things that Jashin-sama offers and-"

"Shut up Hidan," Kakuzu growled with irritation, "when we reach the next town you can sacrifice as much as you want until we leave."

The Jashinist's mouth fell silent expect for the occasionally mumbling of Kakuzu being a dumbass and an atheist. Kazumi walked behind them whimpering on occasion but mostly just staring at anything that they passed. She was rather fond of the tall trees, and their triangular shape that she'd only seen in a few books. The sun was far brighter and hotter against the sink then she'd expected it, at points it would annoy her but for the most part she just loved it, she loved it because it reminded her of how her mother felt when she hugged her…

I'm gonna leave this chapter at that. I'll make this authors note short as I know sometimes they annoy people. I hope it was okay, and please read the next chapter; and review this one. :) Thank you for reading thus far!