I'm sorry for the wait, life got in the way.
I still, in no possible way, whatsoever, own Naruto.
Ring ring ring.
Kataya growled and glared at her phone. She was not in the mood for talking.
She was still mad as all hell, at how her session with Sasori had gone, even though it had been more than 24 hours ago. However, the phone did not stop ringing from its place on the coffee table. Once again she growled before harshly picking up the poor defenseless Nokia.
"What?" she hissed at whoever was unlucky enough to have disturbed her moment of bitterness.
"Geez, someone's having a bad day. And besides, is that any way to greet your best friend?" a perky southern accent voice asked.
Kataya instantly felt a small stab of guilt in her stomach and tried to calm herself down. "I'm sorry Karin. I'm just really stressed out and irritated right now," she told her best and only friend.
"I can hear that honey. Hey, can you tell me something? Why is it that, when I turned on my TV this morning, I was told that my best friend has just started working at Amegakure Asylum, without me knowing it?" Karin asked accusingly.
Kataya felt her eyes widen for a moment, before she exclaimed: "How the hell did the press find out about that?"
"So it is true!" the other stated. "What kind of friend would wait for the media to reveal something like that, before telling me?"
"My kind? I cannot believe the media found out about it already…" the brunette sulked. She was not exactly a big fan of what she called 'organized gossip'.
"Would you focus for a minute Kaya? We were talking about your lacking responsibility as a friend!" Kataya could hear the other girl sigh. "You know what, you sound like you're in desperate need of a massage, now that I think about it," Karin then said.
Kataya immediately knew what the other had in mind. "Listen Karin, I appreciate the concern, really, but I beg you not to come to my apartme-"
"Too late!" the redheaded female interrupted in a joyful voice and hung up.
Half an hour later the door of Kataya's apartment swung open with a bang. At the door stood a grinning 23-year-old girl, with bright red hair in an unusual style, thick glasses, and dressed in various colors.
The brunette raised her dark green eyes from the screen of her laptop and studied her best friend with a deadpanned expression. "You look like a rainbow threw up on you," Kataya informed the other girl.
Grin still in place Karin jumped on the couch next to her irritated friend. "Just because you only wear black, brown, green and gray, doesn't mean I can't be fashionable."
"I just don't feel like mirroring a flower field…" the eldest mumbled, while returning to her laptop. She was currently searching for all information she could get on the artist duo, Sasori Akasuna and Deidara Iwa. Since Kataya was quite an impatient person, she had earlier convinced Dr. Senju, that she was more than capable of working with more than one Akatsuki member at the same time, resulting in a session with the bomber later that day. Considering how it had gone with the puppeteer, she had decided to make sure she was properly prepared this time; so far, with no results.
Despite the eldest desperate try to ignore the redhead, Karin kept bugging her best friend, until Kataya told her everything that had happened at the asylum.
"I think that Dr. Senju chick was right in letting you wait to talk to him, you know…" Karin finally said. That comment earned her a growl and a mumbled: "Whose side are you on bitch?"
Karin just laughed and motioned for the moody psychiatrist to sit down in front of her. Kataya rolled her eyes but couldn't hold in a relieved moan, when the redhead started massaging her.
"Hot damn girl, you're tense!" Karin exclaimed, but the girl in question just ignored her. Afterwards Kataya shooed Karin out the door, as the brunette was to be at the asylum in time for her appointment with Deidara.
Before the two girls separated, Karin insisted on picking Kataya up, after she had been at the asylum, for a reason the brunette didn't know. Karin only mentioned something regarding a 'surprise'; Kataya wasn't sure, if she was to be excited about it or not.
Once again the green eyed psychiatrist found herself waiting for two orderlies, to fetch her new patient. This time though, said patient had her full attention, as he started to trash around and yell profanities at the men in white to avoid the straitjacket. Just as one of the orderlies was about to pull the trigger on the 'gun', Kataya stopped him. That got everybody to stare at her, as if she was an alien. She looked at the blond terrorist with curious eyes.
"You are claustrophobic?" she guessed. Deidara nodded with a surprised look on his face.
"Drop the straightjacket," she said to the man beside the criminal. She knew a straightjacket would trigger that kind of phobia, since it was so tight and locked the bearer in an uncomfortable position. Both the orderlies stared at her in shock.
"B-but… Dr. Okane… He's… We can't just-"
"I said drop the straightjacket. I take full responsibility for whatever accident it might cause," she insisted. Both orderlies nodded, much against their wills. One of the men kept pointing the 'gun' at Deidara, while the other looked insecure on what to do. Kataya groaned angrily and marched into the cell. "Just grab him, for crying out loud! He's not poisoned," she snapped and walked behind the blond, to do the job herself. She forced both his arms on his back and headed for the room in the back of the 'dungeon'.
As they passed his cell, she simply ignored him. It was a new tactic she intended to use from now on, as she found herself shaking, whenever she made the mistake of looking at the masked man.
When the psychiatrist and patient were seated across from one another, with the door closed and recorder turned on, Deidara began to laugh. It sounded, with much similarity, like a child on Christmas Eve, though with a hint of hysterical amusement. Kataya waited patiently for the laughter to fade away and once it did, the blond spoke with a pleased voice:
"You actually figured out I was claustrophobic after watching me for less than 2 minutes, un? If you don't mind me saying, that's awesome! You also have one hell of a firm grip," he giggled, while fidgeting with the sleeve of his gray shirt.
Despite her determined try to fight it, the brunette found, that she could not resist the urge to smirk at that. The girly looking man was strangely surrounded by an aura of humor, which made it almost hard to picture him as a psychopath.
"You're impressed?" she chuckled.
"Very," he declared, as he flashed his tongue to lick his lips. His long, blond hair covered the left part of his face, leaving only his right sky-blue eye to be seen, which, at the moment, was shining with joy and insanity. "But how did you know, un? About the phobia, I mean. The other psychiatrist just thought I was trying to break free and kill them or something crazy like that, un!"
"Is it really crazy to think that? You have killed before, after all," Kataya pointed out, slightly amused by his speech impediment.
"True, un," the man agreed, "but all my killings have been for the sake of art. There would be nothing artistic about strangling someone." He made a pause to once again lick his lips, before he continued. "But answer my question, un; how did you know about my phobia, when nobody else did?"
Kataya thought about it for a moment before reaching a conclusion. "I suppose I am the first psychiatrist to encounter you, who is also personally familiar with phobia… Unbelievable as it sounds, considering psychiatrist ought to be professionals in the area of the human mind," she stated.
Deidara's visible eye widened. "What kind of phobia do you suffer from, un?" he asked with sincere curiosity in his voice. She far from felt like revealing her one true weakness though, and wondered if he would be offended if she failed to answer, but to her surprise, the blond seemed to have noticed her hesitation.
"You don't have to answer my question you don't want to, un. I'm just curious," he said with an eager smile.
Again Kataya felt her mood lighten at that. She wondered for a moment if he was aware of the affect he had on her mood, but decided against it; he was too authentic to be acting. Then she found herself actually wanting to answer his question.
"Arachnophobia," she said in a disgusted tone.
His entire face lightened up in a huge grin, pleased that she had answered. "So you're afraid of spiders, un," he stated, while, yet again, wetting his lips. A habit, Kataya had noticed, which made him seem much more psychotic that his personality.
"Deathly scared," she granted bitterly. She decided to change the subject, since the current one made her shiver in a sickly unpleasant way, while sweat began to form on her forehead. "You seem quite chatty, considering the files from your former psychiatrist said you refused to talk. Why is that?"
He began to laugh once more. "Have you ever met my former psychiatrist? I've never known a bigger jerk than him, and that's saying something, if you bear in mind, that I have been introduced to some pretty nasty types through the years, un! I wouldn't mind making him art…" He mused about the last part for a moment, mouthing the word 'bang' along with fitting hand gestures, before remembering he wasn't done talking. "Besides, Danna said you were worth talking to, and again, that's really saying something, when it's coming from him, so I thought I might give it a try," he smirked.
Kataya frowned confused. "Danna?" she asked.
"Yeah, Sasori no Danna, un," the bomber said, with his face drawn in something resembling a caring grin, if such an expression even existed.
"Why do you call him that?"
Deidara just smiled and flashed his tongue. For the first time the brunette noticed a silver chain, hanging around the criminal's neck, with a small black scorpion attached to it. She made a mental note to find out what exactly 'Danna' meant, when she got home.
She then remembered something she had wanted to ask him about, throughout their entire session.
"You are unusually upbeat, considering you're sentenced to stay here at the asylum for the rest of your life?"
For what felt like the 100th time that day, he started laughing. "Of course I am, un! I try to see the good in life, regardless of my surroundings. Everything else would be plain stupidity, un," he lectured.
Kataya frowned again. "I see what you mean, it's just… Good things in life are hard to find," she disagreed.
The blond studied her for a moment before voicing his answer in an uncharacteristically calm way. "You sound like you speak from experience, un. It's true though; good things in life can be hard to find, but there's always a positive side of the case. Take me, for example: as you said, I'm pretty much a prisoner here till I die… if a psychiatrist doesn't declare me cured, un." He smiled at Kataya's thoughtful expression.
"Do you want to get cured?" she then asked.
"I wasn't born a psychopath, so yeah, I suppose I do want to get cured, un. I don't regret killing people on behalf of my art, though. Maybe I will someday. Maybe you will help me. Maybe not… un."
Something in the way he said it, made Kataya's stomach turn in a weird mix of pity and sorrow.
"I will," she promised with a stern voice.
They shared one last smile and tongue flashing (the latter on the blonds behalf), before Kataya called for the two orderlies, who lead Deidara to his cell, still following the orders to do so, without the use of a straightjacket.
The only thought the psychiatrist could muster, as she waited for Karin to pick her up, was how utterly well this meeting had gone, when compared to the one with Sasori.
As much as Kataya loved her best friend, this was crossing the line.
The two of them were currently standing in front of 'Might Guy's High-Quality Cars – Drive your way to a youthful life!' and Kataya was not amused. First of all the motto of the store was absolutely ridicules, and secondly it would be over the brunettes dead body, if she was to spend even a single dollar of her hard earned money, on something as useless as a car!
She didn't hesitate to voice her annoyance, as Karin, quite literarily, dragged her in the general direction of the entrance. Once inside the two girls kept fighting; Kataya to break free and make a run for it, and Karin to use any means necessary to prevent that from happening.
With much trouble they continued to head directly towards a bored looking staff member, who, at the moment, busied herself with cleaning her nails by the use of a little orange pocketknife.
"Excuse me?" Karin asked the girl, whose nametag called her Tenten. She looked around 18 years of age and eagerly looked up when talked to. When Kataya thought her capturer would be busy chatting, she yet again tried escaping but was stopped by a multitasking Karin.
The girl, Tenten, kindly told the both of them it was her lunch break, before motioning for a different part of the store, where another employee should be available. The psychiatrist noticed, that the teenager didn't even blink twice at the duo's weird behavior, as if she was used to it.
At this point Kataya stopped fighting Karin's grip, as she was slowly but steadily causing a scene. If she had been angry enough, she would have kept struggling. Unfortunately she could never really get mad at the redhead. It had been a fact, ever since they had met each other, over ten years ago. Therefore the brunette followed Karin in defeat, though much against her will, as they moved on.
When they reached their destination, Kataya had to look twice, to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her. In front of them a short, dark haired boy excitedly tried to fasten a price tag to a car window. He was wearing the absolute ugliest green bodysuit Kataya had ever had the misfortune of laying her eyes on, and his hair was cut in a way, which would mentally scar all hairdressers.
"Um, excuse me?" Karin asked hesitatingly.
As soon as the boy noticed the two of them, he lightened up in a grin so huge it must have hurt.
"Hello, my youthful friends! I'm Rock Lee and I'll be at your service, for as long as you choose to stay here at 'Might Guy's High-Quality Cars'! Just say the word and I'll be more than happy to oblige in any way possible!" he practically yelled.
Kataya found herself wondering, if maybe that Tenten girl really was used to putting up with extremely weird behavior. However, before she could get the time to explain, that this was all one big misunderstanding, and that they would be leaving right away, Karin had gladly announced, that they were looking for a stationcar.
"A stationcar?" Kataya hissed. "I damn well hope you realize I'm not gonna buy a car, much less a stationcar!" Her voice dripped with infuriation, but Karin just rolled her eyes.
"Lighten up, will you? It's not like you don't have the money. I mean you're a psychiatrist, for God's sake! A well paid psychiatrist," she added, as if it should mean something to Kataya.
It didn't.
"My money is not to be wasted on a pile of metal! I'm saving for the future, and you know this! I have told you at least a million times!"
Karin, however, had no intentions of giving up, as she knew her best friend was going to react like this, and had therefore prepared her arguments well. "And I have told you at least a bazillion times that you can't go through life only buying instant ramen. Just what future are you talking about anyway, huh? You plan on buying an island with the money or something?"
Kataya had no answer for that.
"See what I mean?" the redhead insisted. "You are just too greedy for your own good! You need to cut this mother-child relationship you have with your cash. Seriously, it's not healthy. I should know; I'm a doctor, remember?"
The brunette was still not entirely convinced. "What on earth would you have me do with a car?"
"The same as all other normal people: drive in it." Karin sighed. "Damn girl, you're just as stubborn as my good-for-nothing boyfriend, Suigetsu. Would you just give it a try? Please?"
The psychiatrist's eyes darted from Karin's puppy look, to Rock Lee, who was also anxiously waiting for her answer.
She sighed. There was no way she could resist now.
Never once in her life had Kataya imagined, she would be the owner of a silver-gray Renault Mégane stationcar. None the less she was, courtesy of Karin and Rock Lee, who actually turned out to be pretty good at his job, if you could ignore his tendency to speak inhumanly loud. Her ears still hurt in protest on her way home through the city.
Half an hour later she spotted her apartment building.
When Kataya had finally said her goodbyes to the redhead (who had made a victory dance, as the last insurance paper was signed), she mused that it wouldn't be that bad to be in possession of a car, as October was getting dangerously close to becomming a reality.
The last thing the brunette did, before going to bed, was figure out what 'Danna' meant; the task proved more difficult than she had first assumed. After a couple of hours of stubborn research she finally found what she was looking for: 'Danna' was Japanese and could be translated to either 'master' or 'husband'. She then remembered having read somewhere that 'Sasori' in fact means 'scorpion', and that's how he got his nickname, Sasori 'the scorpion' Akasuna.
With that in mind Kataya abandoned her worries and fell asleep, only to step into a world of nightmares.
I really hope you liked this chapter since it was incredibly hard for me to write.
Please let me know what you think, it would really make my day xD
Nessie
