Will of Fire: Kakashi Hatake

Chapter 20

"Oh, how the sycamore trees grow, spreading their roots like vines," the man sung in a gravely voice. "Where the fruit of the young bear witness to the crimes of the old–"

"Fox, now."

Akira glanced at Sparrow, then did as she was instructed. The quicksand trapping the man in place started moving, twisting down his hands toward his fingertips. It made a soft slithering noise as it slid down, wrenching his clenched fingers open and splaying them out. Each tendril wrapped around the man's fingertips and started squeezing them, applying a slight amount of pressure in warning of what was to come.

"--and mountains grow tall and bold. The birds will fall from the sky, the deer will drop poisoned–"

"Do it, Fox."

The man let out a shrill scream as Akira crushed his right pointer fingertip. Blood stained the sand, turning it a rusty brown color and dripping to the floor.

His head slumped, chin dropping to his chest and breathing heavy.

"Where is the base?"

Fire crept a bit further down the whip. It was about halfway down now.

"The hummingbirds will choke on their tongues, and the snails will drown in their own slime–"

Akira crushed another one of his fingertips, eliciting another scream of pain from him. Her stomach twisted awfully, and she fought to keep her breakfast down. She could do this.

After every refusal to answer Sparrow's questions, Akira would crush one of the man's fingers in response to his refusal to answer. Blood was splattered all over the ground at his feet now, but he showed no signs of breaking.

"If you tell us where the base is, the pain will stop. Why don't you–"

A gurgling cackle stopped Sparrow mid-sentence. The man leaned forward toward her, grinning wildly, hair hanging in his face. Sweat dripped down his forehead, making some pieces of his bangs stick to his forehead. Saliva foamed at his mouth, bubbling down his chin.

"You stupid shinobi, you have no idea what's coming! NONE!" He screamed at them, voice shrill.

The man was mad.

He continued to cackle, throwing his body side to side in the quicksand, sending droplets of blood everywhere.

"You'll never stop the great Lord Orochimaru! He will crush you and your precious little village. He will DESTROY YOU!"

Sparrow's whip suddenly cracked to life as the flames extended to the very end of it, where it was still wrapped around the man's neck. Akira watched in horror as the whip burned through the man's neck, turning his screams of madness into screams of pain. His skin melted away and the man thrashed harder, trying to get away from the heat.

"You'll die! You'll all die!" He screamed. "You'll never escape his wrath! You'll–"

His rantings were cut off when his voice box was suddenly burned. He ceased making noise, other than a strange, guteral choking sound. Then he stopped moving altogether, and Akira felt his chakra fade into nothingness.

Akira released her quicksand jutsu and the man dropped to the ground, blood still seeping from the remains of his mangled fingers. His mouth and eyes were open, and his neck was seared and blackened beyond recognition. With the insane smile twisting his face, he was unrecognizable from the man they had captured only moments early.

"Well that wasn't very productive," Sparrow said, disappointed. "Guess this mission is a bust."

Akira didn't respond. Her eyes were locked on the body in front of her. She had seen Sparrow interrogate people before, but participating in the cruelness made her sick to her stomach.