Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters affiliated therewith. Neither do I own Riku, who I am using with the permission of AzNcHiBi.
In the few months since she had been returned to Konohagakure, Katsuki still had no memory of living anywhere else but the Akatsuki hideout. Her relationship with Kakashi had improved exponentially, however; she was not afraid of him anymore, and they had become fast friends. Genma and Riku also tried to help, showing her pictures of bygone days, but she couldn't recollect anything about them. Even the Godaime Tsunade couldn't do anything about the memory jutsu. Now she sat on the balcony outside the apartment she apparently shared with Riku, chin rested firmly against the heel of her palm.
"It's not as though they've tried to kill me… But why do they keep insisting I'm part of this village…?" she wondered aloud, watching a group of teenagers eating at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop down the street.
"Because you do belong here, Katsuki-chan." The brunette whirled around, piercing sapphire eyes wide in fright, before she took in the sight of a work-weary Riku, a bag full of dango in one hand, a large container for tea in the other.
"Riku-san…" The other woman waved it away.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Riku deposited the items on the small table on the balcony, pulling up two chairs before retreating back into the apartment for teacups. Katsuki remained on the balcony, her brows knitted together in a melancholic expression as she waited for Riku to reappear. When she did, the raven-haired woman wouldn't meet her gaze.
"Riku-chan… Why did you take me from Deidara?" The woman paused for a second, before calmly picking up the tea container and pouring a generous amount into the two cups.
"We didn't belong there, Katsu-chan," she murmured, delicately holding her cup in her hand. The faint steam that arose from the hot liquid wavered in the air, before curling daintily into a shape that resembled a question mark. "We belong here. Over there we would have died-"
"But what about Deidara?" Katsuki's eyes narrowed, rage flooding her veins. "What about Sasori?!" Riku gazed at her student, a sad, sympathetic expression on her face. Katsuki appeared to calm down momentarily, before her teacher's face made her rage flare up again.
"You loved him! You loved Sasori, I know it! He loved you too! How could you just leave him like that?!"
"Katsuki-"
"No! You forced me against my will to leave Deidara! He was… I loved him! We loved each other! How could you take me from that?!" By now the brunette was leaning over Riku, shouting at the top of her lungs and making the people in the apartment complex across the street open their windows curiously. Riku chose to keep calm and not slap her student for her impudence. As much as it pained her, she reminded herself that it was the memory-jutsu that drove her words. She looked up, impassively, at the brunette.
"I did what I had to." The simple phrase made Katsuki see red.
Riku expected her student to lunge at her in desperate revenge, but instead, the woman only stood there, her eyes tightly shut, hands balled into fists such that her veins stood out in cords against her paling skin. A sharp whistle pierced the air as she exhaled through her teeth, eyes opening to reveal blood-red irises. Stunned, Riku dropped the teacup she held and slowly got up, stepping away from Katsuki's still form, a hand reluctantly reaching for a kunai. Abruptly, Katsuki's stance shifted, and she stood erect, her eyes flickering a brilliant ice-blue. Unexpectedly, she screamed, her hands clawing at the side of her neck.
Where Deidara had bitten her.
"Katsuki!" Riku cried, catching the brunette as she collapsed, still clutching at her neck. Frantically, Riku tried to dislodge her fingers to see what was wrong, but the answer came all too clearly when Katsuki began to writhe and convulse.
"No…" Riku watched, open-mouthed, as thin black lines began to spread out from the hidden wound, twining in a sickly elegant way around Katsuki's neck and extending down her shoulders in a thorny pattern. Prying the brunette's limp hands from her neck, Riku saw a rose-shaped curse-mark oozing blood.
"Shit!" Riku shifted her student's weight, freeing her left hand to dash her thumb against a shard of ceramic from the broken teacup.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" she cried as she slammed her hand on the ground, feeling her chakra surround her before morphing into a huge white hawk. Taking care not to aggravate Katsuki's wounds further, she leapt onto the hawk's back, before screaming at it to go. The cold wind blew harshly in her eyes, making them water continuously. Riku looked down with fearful eyes at her student, blinking away the tears as she watched the curse mark continue to spread ever so slowly.
"Please hold on, Katsuki. I'm not going to lose another student."
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A/N: Well, here is another NT chapter, at AzNcHiBi's frantic demand. I do apologize for those Naruto fans who have more knowledge of the series than I, and can tell that there are many things wrong with this story. However, please keep in mind that I am writing this almost directly from an email-based plot without much reference to the actual series, character personalities, and whatnot.