Impossible to Forgive

Chapter 23: Sasainako's Fun

I did not want to know what she had meant by having fun.

With a sick grin, Sasainako went to work breaking me down bit by bit with as much skill, if not more, than Ibiki Morino himself.

She held senbon in the palm of her hand, and I don't think that I will ever be able to enjoy acupuncture again. 

Each senbon that she plunged into me found its mark, striking a pressure point with perfect precision. My head would spin and multicolored dots would dance across my vision as darkness tugged at the corners of my eyes, begging me to pass out and leave the pain behind. But every time I would get close to the blissful release of unconsciousness, a bucket of ice water would be unceremoniously emptied over my head, jolting awake my senses.

Each breath was ragged with pain, and I could see the multitude of needles sticking out of my arms, neck, torso and legs with my peripheral vision.

Sasainako rubbed her chin, "Now let's see, according to this report, you have severe nerve damage in your right hip. Let's have some fun there as well, shall we?"

Fear wrapped around my stomach like a boa constrictor right before the senbon struck my broken nerves.

The world turned red, and I screamed out for the first time, leaving my throat raw as I tried to writhe in pain but was held back by the leather straps.

"Finally, now there's a good girl." She gave a smile so evil that it could put the devil to shame, "You see, your dear Kakashi is right next door, and I want him to hear every scream and plea for mercy out of your lips. I had never planned on taking a hostage alive, but this will make it that much easier to break him."

"Kakashi! Please..." I called out him in my pain, but didn't get a response as she plunged a second senbon into my hip and I tried to hold back my scream, but was completely unsuccessful. I screamed again and again until I was gasping for breath.

My eyes started to close, but with a pathetic whimper I was brought back from sleep's embrace with another bucket of water. That's when the next senbon hit, sending my whole body into a seizure-like spasm as I started to sob uncontrollably against my will.

"JUST KILL ME!" I choked on my tears. "Just kill me already, damn it."

"Hm, I will, but not yet." She grabbed out another handful of senbon.

I was a mess. My throat was so raw that I could no longer scream, but a constant flow of whimpers flowed from my lips as every cell in my body felt like it was on fire. As a ninja you are trained to endure pain and be resistant to torture, but this was more than just torture. Sasainako was like an artist, and my pain was her canvas. So skillfully could she hit just the right points bringing me inches from insanity and then ease up at the last moment.

I continued sobbing and whimpering long after she removed the needles and bandaged the horde of small holes coating my body. I didn't even notice when she left; I just kept tensing up like a startled rabbit every few seconds just waiting for the next batch of soul-rending pain that never came. The waiting for the torture to continue was almost as bad as enduring the real thing.