The snow swirled past the brunette's vision as she fought her way into the asylum. It was completely dark outside and most of the city was already asleep. Once inside the building she sat down the heavy box of ornaments and started rubbing her hands together in an attempt to heat them. Tsunade emerged from her office with a questioning frown upon her face. "Kataya? What are you doing here this late? It's past midnight," the blonde calmly informed the girl.

"I'm well aware, but I have something I need to do," she explained and nodded in the direction of the brown box.

With a raised brow Tsunade crossed her arms and eyed the box warily. "Which is...?"

"A surprise," the brunette smirked. "Care to help me?"

"That depends..." Tsunade motioned for her employee to follow her to the blonde's office. When they entered said office, Kataya's eyes widened drastically.

"Holy..." she muttered as her gaze examined the small room. Files, folders, documents and papers of all kinds were literally spread all over the room. They covered every available surface from tables, chairs and bookshelves to window sills and the bare floor, only making space for a couple of candles, whose innocent flames were the only thing keeping the room lit.

"Hello Dr. Kataya, I wasn't expecting to see you today. Or... tonight," a cheerful yet unbelievably tired voice said from behind the desk. Kakashi Hatake emerged from the shadow of the table as he carefully stood up. "Do come in, but please beware of your steps," he warned with a worn out smile.

With a gulp Kataya nodded. She let the box stay outside the door and did as told. "Is all this really necessary?" she heard herself ask, glancing at the chaos, which was obviously preparation for the trial. "I thought the law of legal insanity would pretty much do most of the work for us."

"So did we," Tsunade said grimly, "but then we received this." A letter was represented to the brunette, who took it without question. It was an official letter from Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado's lawyer, much like the others they had earlier received.

She opened it and quickly read the most important parts (which either Kakashi or Tsunade had kindly highlighted):

"...It should also be noted that the allegations against Amegakure Asylum are not only directed at the decision of declaring Mr. Itachi Uchiha sane and releasing him despite only having paid a year's penalty for past crimes; the allegations are also on behalf of the remaining members of the criminal organization Akatsuki, that the sentence they received by the court the 15th of August 2010, of admission to a sanctuary indefinitely, due to their crimes of murder, torture, theft, dealing with the Black Market, cannibalism, arson, possession of illegal explosives, mutilation of corpses etc. is not met with the professional competence that is expected of Amegakure Asylum. The members of Akatsuki are as follows: Zetsu Shokubutsu, Deidara Iwa, Kisame Hoshigaki, Hidan Neco, Kakuzu..."

She skipped that part.

"There are no doubts regarding Dr. Kataya Okane's professional abilities as Mr. Uchiha's psychiatrist, but her proclamation of aforementioned Akatsuki member's sanity can, given certain circumstances, be considered affected by personal affairs. Therefore Ms. Koharu Utatane and Mr. Homura Mitokado have requested that a different psychiatrist of their choosing is to be working with Mr. Uchiha alongside Dr. Okane until the trial begins, the 5th of February 2012. My clients have expressed their hope for this psychiatrist to be Dr. Inoichi Yamanaka, who has previous experience with the organization Akatsuki, and who has agreed to travel to Amegakure by the beginning of next week and meet Mr. Uchiha the 6th of December."

The letter was signed by lawyer Danzō Shimura.

Kataya stood frozen to the spot for a while, completely baffled by what she had just read, before her temper took over. With a shrill scream that surprised both Tsunade and Kakashi she crumpled the paper to a ball and threw it across the room. "Given certain circumstances?" she shrieked. "Affected by personal affairs? They suspect me to be lying, just because Itachi's a part of Akatsuki same as my shit-for-brains father!" She stopped her outburst when she realized what she had just said.

"That's right," Tsunade told her in a stern voice. "They think working so close to him makes you weak, but we both know that isn't true. They don't, which is why you have to prove your own strength, not only to them but to the court as well. We can't have you looking like a confused little girl with daddy-issues in front of the judge."

"I know that!" Kataya hissed at her boss. Her breath was ragged with fury and her head was slowly beginning to spin.

"Breathe," Kakashi suggested from his corner, and though the brunette sent him a burning glare she took his advice to heart. She straightened her back and exhaled slowly.

"Danzō Shimura," she then said. "What do we know of him as a lawyer?"

"Too little, I'm afraid," Tsunade answered, "though I know him well personally from my time in Konohagakure, and he is said to be an excellent lawyer. I fear he'll try to make this trial last longer than the last one." The original Akatsuki trial had lasted three years, before Akatsuki received their sentence and was moved to Amegakure Asylum, Kataya recalled. That was little over a year ago.

"But that isn't why you came here in the first place," Tsunade continued. "I order you to leave all the trial-work to Kakashi and I, and focus on your real interest and what I hired you for: the Akatsuki!"

Only then did Kataya remember the box. "That reminds me... That surprise, would you help me or must I decorate the dungeon by myself?"

Tsunade's eyes widened. "Decorate the dungeon? Why?"

With a dangerous glint in her bizarre-coloured eyes the brunette smirked. "Why Tsunade, for the fun of it!"

"Kataya..." the blonde warned.

Kataya laughed. "Fine, fine," she gasped between chuckles. "I have a theory. By changing the Akatsuki members' surroundings I change their 'comfort-zone', and if I change their comfort-zone I gain two things: first I prove that I am in charge, that I have one hundred percent authority and a say in everything that involves them. Secondly, I hope that at some point, with effort and the right timing, I will become their comfort-zone. Try to imagine what a huge advantage that would be when I work with them," she explained.

"And you hope to accomplish that by covering the dungeon with ornaments?"

"Well... That's a bit simplified, but yes."

Tsunade Senju stared at thin air for a good five minutes just thinking about what Kataya had said, before she finally made up her mind. Crossing her arms she turned towards the silver-haired lawyer. "Would you believe? My dear employee is actually making sense. Pray excuse me for a time Kakashi; it seems I have some decorating to do."

With a satisfied smile Kataya went to pick up the box. "Are they asleep, the Akatsuki?"

"The lights have been out in the dungeon for at least two hours. They are asleep," Tsunade assured her. "I can show you, if you'd like."

'Show me?' Puzzled, Kataya followed her boss out of the office and down a dark hallway, till they reached a wooden-door. Tsunade ushered her inside and closed the door behind them. A long narrow desk was sited against three of the walls, covering most of the small room. In spite of lack of lamps the room was fairly lit by numerous of screens showing every single cell of the asylum. "The Security Room," the blonde woman announced. Kataya quickly found what they were looking for. A large area of the desk was dedicated entirely to the ten screens placed in the dungeon. "One outside each of their cells," Tsunade reminded her.

On the screens Kataya could see every Akatsuki member sleeping sound and safe in their beds. Deidara appeared to be dreaming from the way he tossed and turned, Hidan clutched the pendant around his neck tightly with both hands, Kisame laid sprawled across the madras snoring with open mouth, and it seemed that Tobi was sucking his thumb, though it was hard to judge with the mask covering his face.

"And they have night vision," the young psychiatrist observed, "though I see no microphones?"

Her boss straightened her back. "A completely unnecessary violation of their privacy. Let them have their pointless conversations of escape in peace, it makes small difference. They cannot hope to ever break out of here. First they would need to flee the dungeon, cells and metal door alike, which is doubtful enough in itself, only to find a huge partly underground building made up by endless hallways, dead ends, more cells and odd rooms with more insane criminals, and every part of it crawling with cameras and orderlies carrying guns and arrows and phones to call the police. Against those odds I find it hard to see the purpose of microphones. So let them have their conversations, brawls and chit-chats to themselves. It's one of the few acts of kindness I can show them; an attempt to let them have what small piece of freedom they can hope to gain in an asylum."

"Microphones could get us inside information on secrets we otherwise would be ignorant of. It could help my work in the therapy room."

"If you aren't able to make them confide in you without the means of spying and cheating, you aren't worthy of their secrets," said Tsunade harshly.

Kataya smiled. "I like that attitude. Forgive me for testing you, I couldn't help myself," she explained with an apologetic voice.

They left the Security Room and headed towards the stairs.

Dr. Senju chuckled, amused by her employee's frankness. "I take it you agree with my point of view then?"

"Ha!" she snorted. "That's an understatement. I have never been able to sympathize with people, who believe insane criminals should be punished in the most degrading ways possible. No matter their crimes they are still human beings like the rest of us, and they have the same basic rights. I will not deny the cruelty of Akatsuki's actions. Of course society needs to be protected from the likes of them, to prevent the harm of innocent people, but still they can't be held responsible for their actions the same way sane criminals can. People's ignorance regarding the human mind can be so aggravating!"

Tsunade nodded in agreement as they made their way to the metal door, but as the asylum-owner was typing the code for the dungeon she cast a sideway glance at Kataya, observing the brunette. The older woman did not doubt the sincerity of the words, and for that Okane had her respect, but something in the way Kataya stared at the door, almost hungrily, gave Tsunade the feeling that her words in no way concerned a certain masked man with eyes so like her own.

'You really did her wrong back then, Kakuzu. She was your daughter. What had your sweet little girl done to deserve the years of misery you gave her?' she thought to herself. Of course Tsunade knew what the stitched man had done. She was one of the few who clearly remembered what had been said in the news twelve years ago, when the incident occurred. It hadn't been anywhere near breaking news. Just another tragedy. Truth be told, the blonde was more than happy that the majority of the public seemed to have forgotten about Kataya Okane's past. Tsunade knew for a fact that said girl despised being reminded of it any which way.

She was pulled away from her thoughts when the metal door swung open and Kataya turned her head to send her a playful smirk.

'And what an interesting daughter it is...'

An hour later the two women said their goodbyes to each other on the stair to the asylum. Kakashi and Tsunade had decided to continue with their work on the morrow, so the lawyer had gone home some time ago.

As Kataya turned to her car Tsunade called her out.

"Tomorrow you will speak with Itachi alone. The day after tomorrow, damn if it's a Sunday, you will be accompanied by Dr. Nara, who was Uchiha's psychiatrist before you came. Shikamaru will also be present at the sessions along with this Yamanaka person." When her employee opened her mouth to speak, Tsunade smiled. "I will not be outnumbered in my own asylum Kataya. Count on that."

They drove opposite directions home. A short trip later found Tsunade in front of a small yellow villa, where she pulled into the well-kept driveway. The blonde locked herself in and threw her bag on the old chair beside the door. The homey surroundings welcomed her and she sighed tiredly. It wasn't a very expensive house, since her and her husband had long ago decided to spend nearly all their money on the asylum. Much to Tsunade's luck, Jiraiya had always been very supportive of his wife's career, ever since the two of them had accepted the fact that they would never have kids. Low-quality sperm and a uterus with a hostile environment were apparently not the best foundation for a pregnancy. With a yawn she opened the door to the bedroom and found her husband fast asleep. She quickly undressed and snuck into the bed, but as she embraced his large figure, she felt him shift slightly.

"Tsunade?"

It could barely be called more than a hoarse whisper, but the woman in question heard. She made a strangled groan and closed her eyes. "Hmm I hate working late," she mumbled.

Jiraiya chuckled and pulled her closer. "As long as you come home dressed like that, I can't complain," he whispered with a husky voice and motioned towards her very naked body. Before she could answer, he gently cupped her cheek and placed his lips on hers in a tender kiss. Pleased that her husband wasn't mad at her late arrival, Tsunade returned the kiss and cuddled closer to steal his body heat. "You old pervert," she smirked, but she didn't complain when he grabbed her waist and pulled her closer. His hand traced its way down her body, from her neck to her breasts, stomach, hip and leg.

"You're tense," he stated.

Tsunade felt her body starting to relax as Jiraiya gently massaged her. "It's the damn trial," she sighed. "And something weird happened today. Kataya showed up and somehow talked me into thinking her crazy plan was a good idea. I still don't know how she did it," she mumbled.

Jiraiya merely smiled and held her closer. A couple of his fingers removed a strand of hair from Tsunade's face, as she explained. Afterwards the large man couldn't help but laughing, and as his wife closed her eyes to sleep, he chuckled: "Sounds like Akatsuki will be waking up to quite a shock."

Red tears ran down bloody cheeks mixing with the soil and dirt from the basement floor. Hidan looked at the weeping man and laughed. The jashinist pushed a fingernail into one of the wounds on the other man's body and twisted it around. The man's scream was like music to the psychotic criminal. He had already killed him once before, Hidan remembered. But that was years ago, and in an abandoned street ally instead of the basement under the Akatsuki hideout. The man let out a squeal of surprise, only it wasn't the man's dark terrified voice Hidan heard. It was Tobi's. Then the bloodstained walls started to spin and the floor disappeared. Instead there was white ceiling.

"Good morning," a wry voice of an orderly called before he left. It was 8:00 am and the lights had been turned on.

Hidan tried to cover his head with the duvet, but the light was excruciatingly bright and suddenly Deidara let out an astonished yelp. Hidan threw the duvet aside and sat up, and as he got a good look at his surroundings, he understood what the pyromaniac meant.

'What. The. Motherflippin'. Hell?'

The dungeon had always seemed tedious and boring to Hidan, but he sight that greeted him now was anything but. Small stars were hanging gently from the ceiling alongside fragile gold ornaments, an angel spread its wings above the metal door, and snow lay like a thin blanket on the hallway floor. A silver garland with red bows graced the wall above the door to the therapy room, and on the door itself was a large red heart framed by green spruce.

All of which seemed to be grinning mockingly at the very perplexed albino.

In the midst of his confusion Hidan had yet to notice the equally baffled faces of the rest of Akatsuki until a strangely amused voice spoke,

"Oh my, oh my... It would appear that our dear psychiatrist has had a rather entertaining night while we were sleeping," Sasori chuckled.

The others still seemed too shocked to voice their agreement and ended up nodding instead. The thing that eventually broke them out of their daze, however, was the unmistakeable sound of the metal door opening. In walked the very cause of their confusion accompanied by two orderlies, who unsurprisingly went to fetch Itachi. As they let him down the hallway you could see their footprints form in the soft artificial snow. Dr. Okane and Itachi disappeared into the therapy room, and the orderlies walked back out and the metal door shut close behind them.

It became too much for Hidan.

He slipped onto to the floor, positioned himself sideways to the wall and grabbed his knees in a fierce grip. He then proceeded by banged his head against the wall, steady and methodically, again and again and again, while his gaze kept getting more distant every time his skull collided with the white concrete. A mad giggle escaped his throat every now and then. Somewhere far away he heard Deidara's dry sobs and if he had been sane, he would have seen Zetsu standing frozen in terror, with hands clenched in fists and big watery eyes. But he just kept giggling while dull thumps filled his ears.

Meanwhile inside the therapy room Itachi stared at Kataya with indifferent eyes.

"You seem somewhat changed today," she said with a small smile, though she leaned back a little, nervous at his glare.

"I am simply... tired," he said and sounded the part with conviction, though his face betrayed nothing.

He had changed a lot over the past month. When he first decided to reveal his secret to the woman with the mysterious past, he had merely meant to use her remarkable skills as a psychiatrist to his own personal advantage. The years of imprisonment had made him desperate for a solution, and thus his usual facade of indifference had shattered. For the sake of Akatsuki he had told her about the horrid things he had done as a 15 year old without too many details. He hadn't thought much of Kataya until she decided to bring Sasuke to him. The stunt had made him look at her with different eyes, and though he was a cautious man, he began to respect and trust her as his friend more than as his psychiatrist. Also the incident made him finally regain his emotional stability. Of course, in his case 'emotional stability' really meant his ability to disguise his thoughts and feelings behind a wall of apathy. It made him feel safe and he liked feeling safe.

Kataya found her tape recorder. "December 3rd 2011, Itachi Uchiha, session twenty-five. Sasuke Uchiha is not present."

Itachi frowned. "You're unusually hell-bent on keeping track of all our sessions," he observed.

"It's a necessity. In court they will not look at how long I've worked with you but how much I've worked with you. And now that we're on the subject, I have something to tell you..."

The more Kataya explained the more depressed Itachi got.

"Hn," he mumbled darkly when his psychiatrist was done. He wasn't thrilled at the idea of having two extra psychiatrists present during his sessions with Kataya, but the brunette's warning glance told him there was nothing he could do to prevent it, if he ever wanted to leave the asylum, so he kept his mouth shut on the subject. Instead he chose to comment on the makeover of the dungeon.

"Oh that," Kataya laughed. "Yes well, what can I say? I have always had a weak spot for Christmas, and I thought it a shame that you should not have the same chance to enjoy the holidays as everybody else," she smirked.

Itachi couldn't help but be slightly amused at her simple logic. "You don't think such a drastic transformation of environment can do more damage than good?" he asked. "Insane as they are..."

"I am not a fool Itachi, though my actions may suggest otherwise. There is thought behind the craziness, I promise," she calmly told him.

"Hn."

Now it was Kataya's time to show amusement at his sceptical tone. "You appear more concerned than you are willing to admit," she snickered. She observed his face shortly before adding: "But I will not sit here and defend my actions as a psychiatrist, regardless of how much you worry."

It took Itachi a moment to find a reply to that. Then he learned forward. "Deidara is a deranged pyromaniac, Sasori is sickly obsessed with puppets, Hidan is a masochistic, religious lunatic, Zetsu is a paranoid schizophrenic, and Tobi is... Tobi. I would be a poor friend if I did not worry," he defended himself with an anger rarely shown by the indifferent man.

"Oh I agree with you, but that still doesn't change my decision or my plan. For make no mistake, I do have a plan."

"Explain."

Kataya smiled. "No."

Itachi did nothing to show whether her answer startled him or not. The odds were it didn't, the brunette decided. 'Nothing can shock that man, I swear,' she thought to herself. But as she looked him in the eyes, she caught a glint of something that made her change her mind.

"Something bothers you," she stated.

"A lot of things bother me," he answered nonchalantly.

"Very well, I'll rephrase: something has happened to you since we last spoke. I can see it in your eyes, and I have the feeling you're more unhappy than you are tired. And then your usual annoyance towards the world just seems somewhat increased today," she finished.

"'My usual annoyance towards the world'," he quoted with a mocking smirk. "Such harsh allegations doctor."

Kataya was not equally amused. "Careful Itachi. You don't want to start sounding like Sasori."

"Now I am actually offended."

"And now you're avoiding the subject," Kataya shot back.

"I wouldn't dare to," he replied with hidden sarcasm.

"Itachi!" She slammed her hands down on the small table.

His sudden choice of toying with her was wearing on her last nerves. As a psychiatrist she was educated in the arts of remaining calm at all times, but lately the brunette's infamous temper was acting up, and the last comment from the raven-haired man pushed her over the edge.

Said man simply smirked and raised a brow. "That time at the month?"

She sent the Uchiha a glare promising death and destruction if he didn't cut the crap. In pure spite he narrowed his eyes, and for a moment he considered simply refusing to talk but evidently decided against it. In her own messed up way she was only trying to help him, because she truly cared. So he spoke.

"You win. As usually..."

When she said nothing, he sighed.

"...They found out I'm sane. And that I am to be released. Kisame asked me if it were true and I couldn't lie. On Pain's orders I am no longer a member of Akatsuki." He averted his eyes from hers, suddenly feeling as lost as a little child.

Kataya stared at him in shock.

"They kicked you out for being sane?" she asked once she had pulled herself together.

"They are psychopaths, what did you expect would happen?" he said, sounding eternally miserable. "They see this as direct betrayal on my behalf. They refuse to look at me and they haven't spoken a word to me since... even Kisame..." His voice cracked and he hid his face in his hands. This was wearing him down faster than he had expected. His facade was once again beginning to shatter and he hated it.

"Itachi." Kataya's voice was quiet and sympathetic. An unwanted pressure against the Uchiha's chest materialized in form of a sob before he could do anything to prevent it. He swallowed and took a shaky breath before removing his hands. They were wet. Itachi stared at the tears, and for a long time he did nothing but sob. He couldn't remember the last time he cried. Finally he surrendered and succumbed to the strange sensation. It felt nice to be able to cry without someone questioning his behaviour or motive. Right then and there Itachi was thankful for Kataya's silence. The only thoughts running through his mind was memories of Kisame, Sasori, Konan... Akatsuki. The family that had accepted him despite what he had done. And now it was gone.

He cried even more.

Whew!

This chap was a long to write and long to update, but I hope you enjoyed it. I admit it had a LOT of talking, but it was necessery for the story.

Please review and you will make me very very happy!

Love ya all, Nessie.