Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters affiliated therewith. Neither do I own Riku, whom I am using with the permission of AzNcHiBi. I only own Katsuki.

Riku cringed against the heart-wrenching shrieks emitting from Katsuki's mouth as she clawed at the spreading mark on her neck. Jabbing her fingers into the white hawk beneath her, Riku urged the summon to fly faster to Tsunade's quarters. She could see the enormous building five blocks away, and just about every jounin within that radius came darting over the rooftops to see what all the commotion was about, including Kakashi and Genma. When they saw Riku's arm clutched around Katsuki's bloodstained form, they immediately leapt up onto the hawk's back.

"What happened?!" Kakashi shouted over the howling wind as Riku's summon began to check its momentum above the building. He jerked his hitai-ate up, allowing his sharingan eye to survey the damage. Genma was busy cleaning away the blood that was profusely soaking through Katsuki's clothes, but when his fingers alighted on the curse mark, his fingers jerked away as though he'd been burned. He stared at the bloody rose then looked up at Kakashi, who was frozen in horror.

"A love curse mark..." they whispered together.

"Shut up! Enough staring! We need to get her to the medic nins now!" Riku screamed at them as she threw Katsuki over her shoulder and leapt off the hawk's back, which disappeared as she did so. A small group of medic nins burst out of the rooftop door when they heard the commotion, and their eyes went wide as a few of them retreated down the stairs, only to reappear a few seconds later, carrying a stretcher and some blood-clotting medicines. Riku laid Katsuki gently on the stretcher, swiftly moving out of the way of the medic nins as they began their work staunching the flow of blood at Katsuki's neck. Riku shouted at a few who were standing nearby, other tools and medicines waiting at the ready in their hands.

"Ryoto! Midori! Go get Tsunade-sama now!" The young man and woman nodded, disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Riku turned her attention to the other medics, who were preparing to transport Katsuki to the Godaime's private surgical room. No doubt they had already assessed the extreme damage, as the various medicines they had had were obviously being repulsed by the spreading curse mark twining around Katsuki's limbs and body. They too disappeared in a puff, and Riku, Genma and Kakashi all slammed their hands together in a hand-sign, before following the medics into the hospital.

--

Riku, Genma, and Kakashi found themselves in the antechamber of Tsunade's surgical room. They could hear a commotion inside the actual room itself, no doubt from the medic nins still trying to staunch the blood flow. The door to the hallway outside the antechamber banged open, revealing a very harried-looking Tsunade, followed swiftly by Shizune, Sakura Haruno, Ryoto, and Midori. The latter two immediately passed by the group, swiftly entering the surgery room without a moment's hesitation. Tsunade glanced at the door when it shut behind them, before speaking.

"Riku, what's all the commotion about?" The young raven-haired woman gritted her teeth, hands clenched into fists as her body shook all over.

"Katsuki. She's possibly in very mortal danger." Tsunade's eyes narrowed, and she turned her attention to the room, which had suddenly gone very silent. The six shinobi felt a wave of chakra burst out unexpectedly, before suddenly folding in on itself and vanishing, condensing into little more than a tiny pulse. Kakashi, Genma, Riku and Tsunade all withstood the enormous blast of energy better than Shizune and Sakura, who both felt lightheaded and fell to their knees. Riku groaned softly, putting a hand to her head in an attempt to massage away the sudden headache she received from the blast, but Tsunade gripped her by the wrist, eyes wide as she pulled the woman toward the surgery room.

"Kakashi, Genma! Go get Ibiki! Tell him to bring his top five Black Ops and station them outside in the hall! Sakura, Shizune! Come here with me!" The Godaime wrenched open the door to find the group of medic nins all on the floor, knocked unconscious by the sudden wave of energy. Riku glanced around to see her friends Ryoto and Midori barely awake, supporting themselves against each other as they leaned on the wall. Their looked as though they had taken a great physical beating, which would have explained their sudden loss of strength if their chakra levels weren't so over-charged.

"Shizune, Sakura. Start taking them all outside into the antechamber. I need this room to be clear. The two young women assented, swiftly grabbing two people each and walking back out the door. Tsunade let go of Riku, before both of them stepped over to the unconscious Katsuki. Riku's eyes widened as she saw that the curse mark had stopped bleeding, but the viscous crimson liquid still remained splattered all over her body and the table. Tsunade's eyes glanced at the mark on Katsuki's neck, frowning as she pressed lightly on different points on the body.

"Odd place for bleeding… When did she get the bite marks?" Riku's head snapped up, eyes staring at the woman as though she had gone mad. Could she not see the rose-shaped curse mark smoldering on her student's neck, as though waiting for the opportunity to blaze again? Almost unconsciously, she placed the tips of her fingers on Katsuki's neck, focusing some chakra into them.

"Dispel!" she shouted. Immediately, Tsunade's reaction was different as she stared at the mark, lips moving in silent disbelief. Shizune and Sakura returned after taking Ryoto and Midori out of the room, and now it was completely clear. They went wide-eyed at the sight of the black curse mark, burned into Katsuki's skin as though she'd been branded. The Godaime recovered herself as she saw her assistants frozen.

"This is… something you will hopefully never see again. It's a love curse-mark. It's normally given by the man in a relationship by either biting or mixing their blood with another's. It's also the only curse mark that can be activated by a third party by putting a curse on the man to control him," she murmured, face contorted into a scowl.

"What will happen to her?" Sakura asked, her voice softened into little more than a whisper.

She will feel every little thing that the man she loves goes through. Tell me, Riku-san," she looked at Riku, "... just HOW did she get this curse mark? Who is it that she loves?" The raven-haired woman stepped away from the small group, shamefaced as she went to the window, looking out over the horizon as the sun began to set, throwing its dying light out over Konohagakure. She steeled herself for the confession drawn from the memories which had been coming back to her little by little over the past month.

"I...it's my fault...Tsunade-sama. I should've brought her back before it happened," she trailed off, hands clenching into fists once more as she felt Genma's and Kakashi's chakra enter the antechamber, followed by six others which were further away but still close. Tsunade began to get exasperated, fingers probing the base of Katsuki's neck.

"Sasuke Uchiha reported that you and Katsuki had been taken by his brother Itachi, along with two other individuals, a blonde and a redhead. Both appeared to be allied with Itachi, and S-class criminals. Apparently, the blonde was Deidara of Iwagakure. The redhead was Sasori of the Red Sand. Now, Riku-san..." she stepped over to the young woman, now shaking in terror at the memories overflowing her mind. "What happened?"

"It's just as it is… We were taken to their hideout and she fell for… for him… But… Sa… Sasori let us go…" Riku said, her voice shaking. Tsunade's mouth turned down in a frown.

"Did he do anything to you?" The question shocked the black-haired woman, inadvertently making her go on the defensive.

"N-No! Of… Of course not!" Eyes narrowing, Tsunade placed two fingers on Riku's forehead, closing her eyes as her chakra and Riku's flowed together in her memories…

A gentle kiss…

A tall, redheaded young man wrapping his strong arms around Riku's slender form…

Red eyes filled with tears…

His lips forming the words "I love you"…

Tsunade gasped and fell back several steps toward Katsuki's still form. A heavy silence fell over the room, and Shizune and Sakura glanced at each other, deciding it would probably be best if they were not there at the moment. As soon as the door fell shut behind them, Tsunade's voice came out in an almost inaudible whisper.

"Do you know what the penalty-"

"Yes." Riku interrupted, whirling around, her eyes hard as diamond as she stared intently at Katsuki. "I know perfectly well who he is and what crimes he has committed. I am willing to take the punishment for such actions."

Tsunade seemed to recover from her shock, and she straightened up, voice becoming more commanding as she spoke.

"…The ANBU will take you back to your apartment. I will do my best to heal Katsu-"

"… Deidara…" Tsunade and Riku both turned to look at the brunette, who was mumbling faintly.

"Sensei… help… No… No, stop… Stop hurting him…" She began to cry. "Stop! Stop hurting him! Sensei, make them stop!" Katsuki's shrieks brought not only Shizune and Sakura back into the room, but Genma, Kakashi, and Ibiki. Tsunade glared at the three who came through the door last, shouting at them to get out.

"With all due respect, I am as responsible for her as Riku is," Kakashi murmured, voice low, visible eye blazing with determination. "I will not leave this room unless I know she is going to be all right." Tsunade glanced at Riku, who was clutching her student's hand as she continued to scream.

"Deidara! Sensei, make it stop!" Riku's eyes began to glisten with tears as she saw the curse mark pulsing, slowly spreading its thorny grasp down her student's arms once more.

"This is bad… I don't even know if I can heal this girl," Tsunade thought, mouth drawn in a tight line. She saw Kakashi out of the corner of her eye, his hands clenched tightly into fists, trying to restrain himself from rushing to her side. Shizune and Sakura were trying their best to help stop the mark from spreading. Tsunade's eyes closed as she felt helplessness begin to descend on her, something she had not felt in a long time. Abruptly, Katsuki's screams ceased, causing the entire room to reverberate with silence.

"Is it possible to transfer the curse mark?" The sudden question had everyone's attention snap to Riku. Kakashi's mouth visibly opened under his mask, Shizune and Sakura stopped fiddling with pads of gauze, and Tsunade stared at her.

"You're not suggesting what I think you are, are you?" Riku's eyes blazed with determination, not the slightest hint of hesitation in either her eyes or body.

"Transfer the curse onto me, Tsunade-sama." The Godaimer ran a hand through her hair and sighed.

"… You're not doing this because of what happened to your last student, are you? It's possible neither of you will survive the transfer-"

"This isn't about any of my former students. It's about the student I have now. I am not going to let her go through this and suffer like any of the others. It's a chance I'm going to take, even if I may sound selfish. But it's what I've decided." Tsunade stared hard at the young woman, who still clasped Katsuki's hand in her own.

"… You realize the pain it will cause you? Also the psychological damage you may suffer…?"

"Think of this as my punishment, as well as Katsuki's." She glanced at her student with a pained expression on her face that wasn't from the vice around her hand. "Please Tsunade." The woman pursed her lips.

"… Very well, then. Shizune. Sakura." They nodded and disappeared, most likely to get another gurney for Riku. Tsunade looked at Kakashi with eyes that pleaded for him to leave, that what would follow in this room would not be something he wanted to see. He shook his head.

"I love her," was his only response. She sighed.

"At least tell Ibiki to prepare for… the worst." A single tear escaped the copy nin's visible eye as he nodded, hands shaking as he opened the door, closing it behind him with a little more force than was necessary. Shizune and Sakura reappeared in the room, a gurney between them and some other medical tools they would probably need for the transfer. Tsunade looked at them as they put everything in order, shifting Katsuki's gurney over to make room for the one Riku would lay on. The raven-haired woman got on the bed with a deliberate slowness, still clutching Katsuki's hand in her own. Soon she felt pinpricks along her arm as Shizune prepared her for an intravenous, Sakura doing the same to Katsuki. A few minutes later, Riku began to feel the weight of the burden about to be transferred to her, and she closed her eyes, silently begging Katsuki to forgive her. She felt Shizune back away as Tsunade came to her side.

"Riku… we're ready," she murmured. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Riku grinned half-heartedly as she raised her hand, still clasped tightly in Katsuki's.

"A bit late to go back on decisions now, Tsunade-sama." She turned her eyes to her student's grimacing face, silent tears streaming down the sides of her face and into her chocolate hair. Riku saw Shizune, a syringe in her hand, and Sakura, holding the IV tube at the ready, viridian eyes wide with concern. For a second, she almost pitied the strawberry-haired girl; no doubt this had to be the first time she could possibly have blood on her hands from a willing patient. Lifting her eyes to Katsuki's face once more, she sighed.

"Go ahead." She didn't feel the anesthetics hit her blood stream, nor did she pay attention to the fuzziness edging her vision after a few minutes. The only thing Riku could concentrate on was Katsuki's face, gradually relaxing as her nightmares stopped… slowly going in and out of focus…

A/N: AzNcHiBi is done with waiting, for which I am terribly sorry. Therefore, I shall do my best to crank out one chapter a week of this story. I've only got a few more left, and I'm surprised that I've been procrastinating on finishing it...