Beautiful Demise

It had been two weeks since Angelick died and no matter how much the man with the scar beat Bhairavi she would not open her mouth to so much as say a word. She was dead inside, her once bright eyes were now dull and lifeless. Her only light in this world was gone, never to come back.

"Whats wrong with her?" asked the squirly man Bhairavi found to be named Ruffus.

"I dont know, ever since that little brat died she hasn't spoken a word." huffed James.

With a shake of his head he slid a trey under the bars full of food for Bhairavi to eat. She looked past them as if they weren't there. Her mind had long gone somewhere else.

When the two men left Bhairavi, she only glanced at her food before pushing it away. She hadn't eaten for three days and she still seemed to have no appetite. Her spirit seemed to have been broken.

Turning her back to the door she wrapped her arms around her legs and slowly rocked back and forth trying her best to imagine Angelick there with her. No that was wrong, Angelick was better where she was, she was no longer in pain.

Bhairavi was so numb inside that she didn't notice or hear the rukus outside her prison. She didn't sense the danger in the air or notice the screams of pain filling the outside world. All she could do was rock. Back and forth. Back and forth.

When all had quieted down she found herself humming in the new found silence. It was a tune she didn't reconize. It was something she couldn't get out of her head. Finally she began to form words with it releasing her beautiful voice and filling the unnerving silence that had settled around her.

"Right now I feel like a bird
caged without a key
everyone comes to stare at me
so much joy and rivarly
they dont know how I feel inside
through my smile I cry
they don't know what their doin' to me
keeping me from flyin'
thats why I say that
I know why the caged bird sings
only joy comes from song
she's so rare and beautiful to others
why not just set her free
so she can
fly, fly, fly
spreading her wings and her song
let her
fly, fly, fly
for the whole world to see"

when the song ended she momentarily paused her rocking as if she finally remembered where she was. slowly, she began to rock again, she liked the song she decided, it sounded so familiar. She vaguely wondered who it was about. She sang it again hoping it would help her solve what she knew she had somehow forgotten.

__________________________________________________________________________________

"We have what we need Hidan let's go." Kakazu said irritably as Hidan stretched out on the floor in one of his aggrivating rituals.

"You have no respect for my rituals do you! I should sacrifice you to Jashin for that!" Hidan spat angrily, but upon seeing the murderous look Kakazu directed him he grumbled and got up.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Hidan suddenly asked as the two criminals turned to leave. Kakazu only turned to look distastefully at Hidan but then he heard it too. It almost sounded like...singing.

The two akatsuki members slowly and cautiously made their way towards the sound. Once they were close enough to make out the words both paused in absolute wonder. Neither had ever heard a sound so wonderfully beautiful or full of pain.

"I know why the caged bird sings
only joy comes from song.....

Desperate to see what was making the noise Hidan recklessly threw the door open letting the light flood in. Cages lined the walls and directly in front of him sat a girl with long black hair and her back to him.

She stopped singing the moment the two entered and she didn't even turn to look at them. Only sat there, rocking back and forth.

"I won't sing for you." she whispered her voice sounding dull and lifeless.

"Hn, we didn't ask you to you filthy girl." Hidan said cockily. He wanted her to sing again though, to hear that angelic voice that even his god Jashin would love to hear.

"I won't sing for you." she said again like a broken record.

"It's okay Angelick, they won't hurt you." murmered Bhairavi.

Hidan looked at Kakazu in confusion. Who was this girl talking about. There was not a single other person in the room.

"Look at me." Kakazu suddenly asked wondering what the girl looked like.

"I wont sing for you." she said again but slowly turned around non the less. There was no doubt that the two men before her were evil. They leaked it from their red and black cloaks and their cruel cold eyes bore into Bhairavi. She felt a cold shiver shock up her spine which was a strange sensation after being numb for so long.

One man had slicked back silver hair and violet eyes with a coy smirk plastered on his face and a deadly looking three pronged scythe strapped to his back. The other had the strangest looking eyes Bhairavi had ever seen, stranger so then her own. They were a sea foam green but the sclera was red. He had a mask cover half his face and Bhairavi found it hard to read what he was thinking. She briefly wondered what the headbands with the metal plates and strange symbols on them meant.

"My, what strange eyes." Hidan mumured leaning close to Bhairavi.

"nasgi asegi nihi ukadv.-Not as strange as your face." Bhairavi whispered.

"What? what did you just say? Mind saying it in English please?" Hidan grumbled grabbing the bars of Bhairavi's cage.

"Hidan, let's go, her eyes are lifeless anyway. she's of no use to us." Kakazu said turning his back to the beautiful girl.

"Whatever they did they broke her." Kakazu said over his shoulder.

Hidan huffed at Bhairavi before turning to follow Kakazu.

"I said," Bhairavi said barely above a whisper, "not as strange as your face." Both men stopped in their tracks turning to stare at her in disbelief.

"I'll sacrifice you to lord Jashin you little bitch." Hidan hissed suddenly in her face again. How he moved so fast was beyond Bhairavi.

"how can you sacrifice something that's already dead." Bhairavi whispered. Hidan stepped back and looked thoughtfully at Kakazu before returning his cold stare at Bhairavi.

"I think we can use you little bitch. The base could definately use a new form of entertainment."

"I'd rather rot." Bhairavi said turning her back to both of them and resuming her rocking.

"Fine, stay in there and rot then!" Hidan growled kicking the cage away for good measure. As Hidan stormed out the door infuriated by the girl with the lifeless eyes, Kakazu only stood there staring in deep thought at the girl's back. She would surely fetch a fair price if not for her voice then for her beauty. Yes, he would take her to Pein-sama and ask him if he would like the girl. If he didn't well then Kakazu had no problem selling her to someone willing to pay a fair price.

Bhairavi didn't have time to process what happened next. In a matter of seconds the bars of her cage were being torn open and her chain snapped. A sharp pain exploded at the back of her head and she slumped forward, unconcious at last.

Kakazu slung her over his shoulder and went to greet his impatient troublesome partner.

"No way! There's no way we're taking her with us! She said so herself, she'd rather rot so let's let her! I'd be glad to come back in a few weeks and visit her remains!" Hidan shouted his hand automatically flying to his scythe.

Kakazu's cold gaze swung to Hidan in a deadly glower daring him to say another word.

"If you dont stop annoying me, I promise you I will kill you." Kakazu said stepping in front of Hidan and calmly making his way towards the Akatsuki base.

Hidan merely grumbled incoherent insults to Kakazu's back as the two criminals journeyed through the forest. It wasn't but two hours later when Bhairavi's eyelids slowly began to flutter open.

"I told you, I'd much rather rot." She said but did not struggle. She knew it would be futile.

"Yeah and I'd be happy to let you!" snarled Hidan once again reaching for his three pronged scythe.

"Hidan." Kakazu warned shooting his partner an evil glare. A wind suddenly rustled the leaves of the trees overhead and reminded Bhairavi that they were outside. She hadn't stepped outside in five years. She was nearly overwhelmed by the brilliant colors, sights, and sounds. She was assualted by the smell of fresh greenery and the wonderful sounds of chirping birds.

A light she thought she had lost suddenly resurfaced in her eyes as she gazed about at all the beauty surrounding her. That is until Hidan stepped infront of her glowering down at her.

"Ah, so your not entirely dead inside like you claim to be. This means theres still hope in sacrificing you to lord Jashin."

"If you love your stupid lord Jashin so much, why dont you just sacrifice yourself and join him?" Bhairavi challanged but it wasn't an easy task to look intimidating when you were slung over a man's shoulder like a sack of potatos.

Hidan's eye noticably twitched and his fingers curled as if they were wrapping themselves around an imaginary neck.

"You're a cocky little bitch aren't ya?" Hidan said trying to calm himself down.

"And you're an arrogant dumbass." Bhairavi countered.

"Funny, all this coming from a pathetic idiot girl rocking back and forth like a baby in a cage all alone in the dark." Hidan growled really starting to get worked up.

"Enough. Both of you, just shut up." Kakazu muttered darkly sending off a deadly feeling into the air and causing the two bickering people to fall into a cold silence.

The sudden silence allowed curiosity to finally sink in for Bhairavi making her open her mouth to voice a question that had been nagging at her brain.

"Who are you two and what do you want with me?"

"I figured you would have done figured that out by now, I guess you aren't the brightest crayon in the box huh?" Hidan taunted not wasting a chance at getting a jibe in at Bhairavi.

"We're part of the Akatsuki. As for what we want you for, I just figured Pein-sama might have a use for you. If not, theres always someone willing to pay a hefty price for a little songbird." Kakazu answered before Bhairavi could get a chance to insult Hidan again.

The thought of being sold agian and forced to sing for someone infuriated Bhairavi and caused great waves of anger to surge through her being but she forced it aside and decided to deal with it later, instead she asked the two menacing men a second question,

"What's the Akatsuki?"

"You've got to be kidding me." Murmered Hidan catching her half hearted glare.

"Its a group of S-ranked criminals. We're rougue ninja banished from our villages or just plain deserters." Kakazu once again explained.

The word ninja caught Bhairavi's attention. She had heard stories of such beings in her village when she was a little girl but she never once believed she would get to meet one. They were like the warriors of their villages, taking orders from the village leader, or Hokage, and fighting to protect their village. They lived dangerous lives and wielded incredible amounts of power and strength. She also heard that not all of them was good. It was just her luck that she got to meet one of the bad ones.

"Ninjas?" she whispered in wonder. "Tell me...about these ninjas." she said with a tid bit of excitement lacing her voice.

"You dont know what shinobi are? Man, you just get stupider and stupider." Hidan grumbled souring Bhairavi's mood once more.

"You're in no postion to be demanding us tell you stories." Kakazu muttered darkly reminding her of her place. Bhairavi knew she should let the matter drop but her curiousity was killing her! She needed to know more about the world she was being drug off to!

"I'll do anything! just tell me about the ninja's and their ways, I'll even sing for you!" Bhairavi exclaimed barely concealing her excitement.

Kakazu wanted to shoot down her hopes again and tell her no but the idea of her singing for them willingly was appealing. It wasn't Kakazu that agreed however, it was Hidan.

"Well, now that changes things! I'll exchange all the information I know on ninja's in return for a song."

"Done!" shouted Bhairavi. Both men were surprised to discover how much life had returned to those large golden orbs when she said,

"You can begin telling me all that you know."

"Hold up just a minute girl, I can't exactly trust you to keep your word and sing when Im finished, i mean your a little savage after all." Hidan sneered wrinkling his nose at her olive skin as if it read 'can't trust me' all over it.

"And I can't trust you to keep your word, I mean after all, your a filthy criminal." Bhairavi said clenching her jaw in anger. She hated immediately being labled and judged.

"Fine, I'll give you half of what I know, then you sing a song and then I'll give you the other half. deal?"

"Deal." Bhairavi said.

"Let's see, people train to be ninja's the moment they can walk and even go to a special academy to learn the proper techniques to become one. There are endless amounts of things a ninja is able to do thanks to a special force within them called chalkra. Its like their life force. They can concentrate it to certain parts of their bodies like their feet for example to make them move faster, or their hands to make them punch harder." Hidan said.

"Can you show me?" Bhairavi asked. Hidan may highly dislike the girl but he had a hard time forcing away his superior arrogance so it was he demonstrated a ninja's power to the awe struck girl.

"Watch when I punch this tree without using chalkra." He said swinging back his arm and thrusting it forward letting it crash into the hard bark of the ginko tree. A barely audiable dent appeared in the trees bark making Bhairavi raise an eyebrow.

"Now observe when I punch it using chalkra." With that Hidan swung his arm forward, his hand encased in a strange blue aura and slammed it into the tree's trunk. An earsplitting crack could be heard as his fist completely snapped the tree in half and sent it soaring through the air.

"Wow." Bhairavi breathed. A triumphant smirk appeared on Hidan's face as he ran to catch up to the still walking Kakazu.

"Now about that song." Hidan said. Bhairavi squirmed nervously not liking her position in the least.

"Um....can I please stand up for this, I can't really sing in this postion." she mumbled.

Under normal circumstances Kakazu would have said no and continued walking but this wasn't a normal circumstance. He wanted to hear the girl sing and so against his better judgement he set the girl down allowing her to stand and stretch her muscles.

She smiled a bit sheepishly at the two men staring at her expectantly. Fidgeting around she finally asked,

"Any um...er requests?" She wasn't used to people looking forward to her singing, in fact people in her village shunned her for it and she never did it willingly for the men who she was sold to.

"Just sing whatever you want girl, hurry up im getting impatient." Hidan grumbled his usual glower crossing over his features once more.

Wasting no time Bhairavi launched into the first song that entered her head opening her mouth and letting her voice soar.

It was a sad song, sung in her native tongue, and even though they knew not a word she was saying they could feel in their hearts the pain and misery behind it. Even Kakazu who wasn't impressed by anything, stared in amazment at the girl before him, belting out beautiful notes that came very close to making him actually feel. That was dangerous, Kakazu never felt anything and if a mere song sung by this child could cause him to do so, then she was a threat to him. her voice was unnatural, it was inhuman. Yes, Kakazu was sure there was something more to this girl that they were missing.

Hidan closed his eyes and allowed the music to carry him away to a far away place. He relished the sound even if it caused a strange aching in his chest. He had never felt sorrow or sympathy. Even the birds grew silent and the wind stopped blowing as if they too listened to her song.

Slowly, Bhairavi opened her eyes when she finished the song and it was as if the world unfroze. The birds chirped once more and the wind rustled the leaves. A full minute passed before Kakazu and Hidan recovered and snapped out of it as well.

"Where....where did you learn to sing like that girl?" Hidan asked breaking the silence.

Bhairavi shrugged her shoulders and simply replied, "I've always known how." She then looked at him expectantly. "The rest of the info on the ninja's please." A little angrily Hidan realized he was starting to warm up to the girl. What was it with her? He even thought he saw a small glimmer emotion in Kakazu's eyes as well confirming that it wasn't only him that felt that way. What an interesting individual he thought to himself. She could make a magnificent spy with a gift like that. After singing just one of her songs she could have a whole crowd of people lined up to give her information.

"Well, lets see, they use special weapons called kunia," to demonstrate he whiped out a sharp scary looking dagger with a long handle wrapped in white cloth.

"Shuriken," this time he pulled out a strange metal object shaped like a star with four pointed edges.

"and other weapons like katanas and scythes. Whatever floats their boat really. Ninja's have the ability to use a techinque which allows us to use jutsus. there are so many different jutsus, its impossible to describe them to you. You'll just have to observe us as we go. It will come to you I promise."

"Let's go." Kakazu mumbled anxious to be moving again. He moved to grab Bhairavi up again over his shoulder but she shook her head stubbornly.

"I'd like to walk if thats alright with you. I know where we're going isn't good and im a captive and future slave but something keeps telling me there's a reason for this. That I need to go with you. I have a purpose here and until I discover what that is you can trust that I wont try running." Bhairavi explained as best as she could. It was true, she felt that there was something pulling her towards the direction they were going and urging her to follow the two men.

To the two criminals, the girl had clearly lost her mind and gone insane, but to Bhairavi, she was certain she was making the right decision, besides, things would go much easier if she cooperated. Maybe she could even earn their trust and that could definately come in handy later if she planned on escaping.

Kakazu regarded her cooly and closely before nodding his head and resuming walking. Even if she tried anything, it wouldn't be hard to stop her. They were some of the strongest ninja around and she was a mere weak little girl. He had every bit of confidence that they would make it to the Akatsuki base without incident.

Surprised by their willingness Bhairavi silently followed wondering what she had gotten herself into. They were obviously very confident of their abilities other wise they would never have let her walk on her own. Just how powerful were they?

"What kind of criminals are you?" she found herself asking curiously.

"what kind of question is that?" Hidan scoffed. Ignoring him she continued, "Are you the kind that steals, or kills?" she whispered.

Now she caught Hidan's interest. Turning to look at her over his shoulder he said,

"Now thats an easy one," His smirk only grew wider at Bhairavi's confusion.

"We're the kind that kills."