Author's Note: Again, it has been an unseemly long time since I last uploaded anything at all, and I know that this isn't a very long chapter, but I hope that it even a little bit makes up for my absence, which I will admit will probably happen again because I am very busy as of late.

Chapter 3: Half of a Whole

When Naruto opened his eyes, he was alarmed. He was no longer in his room. Instead, he was in a corridor that looked like it had seen better years. It was damp and, in places, it even had small puddles of water. He also realized that he was unbound, so if he had been kidnapped, his captors obviously thought that there was no way that he was going to be able to get out, which was not a reassuring thought for him.

Naruto stayed where he was for about fifteen minutes, just trying to see if something would happen. When nothing noticeable changed, he cautiously made his way down the corridor. It was barely illuminated, and for the life of him, Naruto couldn't find the source of the illumination.

As he was making his way down the corridor, he could faintly make out what sounded like the breathing of something very large. It made his pulse quicken and he subconsciously shivered in slight fear. He had no idea what was going on, and it terrified him. However, upon seeing no alternative, Naruto forged ahead.

As Naruto was rounding a bend in the hallway, he was struck with a flash of vertigo so severe that he clenched his eyes shut. Just as sudden as the vertigo appeared, it was gone again. When Naruto opened his eyes again, he was astonished to see that there was what looked like a cage in a massive chamber. What was odd about it though, was the size. It extended past his sight both up and to either side.

What caught his attention next was the sound of the loud breathing. It was much louder than before. He also became aware of the temperature. Even though it was still very damp, the temperature in the room that he was in was almost unbearably hot.

Upon further inspection of the cage, Naruto saw a circle of metal near the center and about 25 feet off of the ground. Naruto assumed that it was where the key to the gate was. Naruto, however, didn't need to open the gate to get in. The gaps in the bars of the cage were easily large enough for him to slip past.

Naruto started to edge towards the nearest gap in the bars and, with every step forward, it got warmer. When Naruto finally it through the gap, it was stifling and Naruto was having a hard time breathing.

All of a sudden, one giant red eye with a slit of a pupil opened directly in front of Naruto. Naruto gasped and stumbled backward, falling in the process. As if flood beams had suddenly turned on, Naruto could suddenly see everything in the cage and he knew without a doubt that he was looking at a locked and caged Kyuubi.

"Naruto..." An impossibly deep and menacing voice says though Naruto is unsure if there is any malice behind the words.

Aware that he is still inside the cage, Naruto quickly scuttles backward. An amused laugh echoes around and through Naruto.

"Even if I wanted to, which I am still contemplating, I can't do anything to you in here. These accursed bonds that your dear daddy placed prevent it." Kyuubi says, and it takes several moments before Naruto can comprehend what it is that he heard. Unbidden, tears form in his eyes and travel down his cheeks.

"You're saying that my father was the... Fourth Hokage?" Naruto asked in a shaky voice. Naruto can see the feral grin of Kyuubi through the bars.

"What's the matter little one? Not what you were hoping for? Were you hoping for someone who was out there searching for you so that you could have a happy life?" Kyuubi asked sarcastically and Naruto felt anger creeping in.

"You're lying! You're just a damn demon that has made my life a living hell! I'm glad that you're in there! For all I care, you can just stay there and rot!" Naruto exclaimed, feeling all of his frustrations for how his life was boil over and the Kyuubi once again laughed.

Before the nine tails had a chance to respond, Naruto turned around and walked away. When he got to the corner and got through the dizziness and vertigo, he realized that he was back in his own room. He glanced over at his clock and saw that it was already 8 in the morning. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, so he got dressed and went out to train all of his frustrations out.

When he got to the training grounds, he was surprised to see that Kiba was already there. Across from him was another of the Inuzuka clan, and Naruto didn't need to be told that it was Tsume, Kiba's mother, and chief of the clan. Her reputation was fearsome. She was known to be a bit of a hard-ass, but she was fair and fiercely loyal to her family.

Naruto was curious to see what they were up to, so he stealthily made his way to some of the bushes on the perimeter of the clearing and settled himself in to watch. To his annoyance, he couldn't hear what they were saying, but he knew that he would be discovered if he tried to get closer.

While watching the two, he noticed Tsume give Kiba a shake of her head and Kiba frowned, then shrugged.

At a word from Tsume, Kiba got into a fighting stance, with both arms crossed in front of him and his knees bent. He kept on the balls of his feet so that he could move quickly if he needed to. Tsume barked an order and Kiba turned his body.

In the blink of an eye, he released his coiled body and sprang forward. His feet left the ground and his entire body started spinning so rapidly that he was nothing but a blur. Naruto could see his nails, which Naruto knew were kept rather sharp, at the focal point of the rotation.

As amazed as Naruto was, he could easily see that Kiba had no control over where he was going. This was made evident by the fact that he ran straight into Tsume, who disappeared in a cloud of smoke. In her place was the battered and splintered remains of a log.

Naruto was amazed at the devastating power behind the jutsu that his best friend had just performed. He knew that he was grinning like an idiot, but unfortunately for him, that happiness was short-lived. Naruto jumped nearly a foot in the air when a hand landed on his shoulder. When he looked behind him, he unconsciously gulped.

Standing behind him was none other than Tsume herself, and tagging along right at her heels was a terrifying looking dog with an eyepatch and a scar running down the side of his face. Tsume was grinning and Naruto felt even more scared because of that.

As he felt himself back up, Tsume's gaze softened and she lowered into a squat.

"There's nothing to be afraid of Naruto. I'm not going to hurt you. Please don't be scared." Tsume said and her voice was very reminiscent of Kiba's when he had tried to calm Naruto down when he had first met him.

To Naruto's horror, he could feel tears trickling down his cheeks. He was afraid of the woman standing in front of him. He knew that if she wanted to, she could hurt him.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Kiba asked from directly behind Naruto and Naruto jumped in shock and turned around to find Kiba standing there with Akamaru on his head.

"I'm afraid that I may have startled him. He seems like he's in shock." Tsume said, and Naruto tried his best to control himself. He looked down towards the ground subserviently and faced Tsume once more.

"I apologize for intruding on your training session with your son Tsume-Sama," Naruto said, and because he was looking down, he didn't notice Tsume frown.

"It's not a problem Naruto. I don't mind. I'm sorry for startling you like that." Tsume said and Naruto smiled, though Kiba could tell that it was a fake smile.

"It's nothing to be sorry about. I'll leave you guys to it then." Naruto said and turned around.

Before he took two steps though, someone grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. When Naruto felt the hand, his entire body froze and tensed in anticipation of an attack. What he was met with, however, was Kiba giving him a gentle smile. Kiba wrapped Naruto in a hug and Naruto, though he was shocked at first, returned it almost immediately.

Tsume was watching the display with a wry smile and, though she hated to break the moment, she coughed lightly and Kiba and Naruto broke apart, though they stayed close.

"I think we've trained enough for today Kiba. Naruto, would you like to have dinner at the Inuzuka Compound with Kiba, Hana, and myself?" Tsume asked, and Naruto graced her with a genuine smile.

"As much as I would love to, I'd hate to be a burden to you guys, especially since you guys have been nice to me so far. Maybe some other time." Naruto said, and before Tsume could try to push the subject, he was gone.

She frowned slightly to herself. She knew that the boy was lonely and an outcast, but she hasn't realized just how deeply it had scarred him. She berated herself and thought that of course being at such a young age and having to deal with such adult problems, it was no surprise at how Naruto acted.

"Man, it would have been awesome to have Naruto there," Kiba whined, and Tsume chuckled.

"You'll get your chance to have him over one of these days Kiba. Now, do you want to train some more or do you want to go home?" Tsume asked, and judging by the gleam in Kiba's eye, she knew that he was going to run himself ragged. In that moment, she saw herself reflected in her son and was proud.

"Hell yeah I wanna keep training! Who do you think I am, dad?" Kiba asked snarkily and Tsume laughed before getting back into her fighting stance.

"Bring it on then, pup" She said derisively, though not unkindly. Kiba grinned at her and got into the Fang Over Fang stance again.

As for Naruto, he was walking back to his home, feeling slightly dejected. He was very suspicious on how Tsume had treated him. He had been expecting her to hate him, especially when he returned Kiba's hug, but she had almost seemed kind to him. He couldn't wrap his head around it. Kiba had been the only one to ever show him any kindness, and he was still unsure sometimes, though he would never let Kiba know that.

Naruto and Kiba were hanging out like usual. They were in the training fields and Kiba was helping Naruto train. After they had both worked themselves into exhaustion, Kiba said that he wanted Naruto to follow him and, because Naruto trusted Kiba implicitly, he followed him.

Kiba led him to an alleyway and said that it was a shortcut with no one there to harass him and because Naruto was tired and just wanted to get home, he followed Kiba without a second thought.

They were halfway through the alleyway before Naruto saw shadows materialize into people from the edges of the alleyway. Naruto suddenly got worried, a feeling that increased tenfold when he looked back where he had come from and saw that there were even more people who were blocking the exit.

Naruto turned to look at Kiba and was taken aback when he saw that Kiba was smiling at him. The smile held none of the warmth that Naruto had come to expect. In fact, it looked so much like the hateful and spiteful smiled that the rest of the village gave him that Naruto knew he was in danger. Before he could even try to get away, Kiba had a hold of him and held his arms behind his back.

Still in shock, Naruto didn't even put up a fight as the thugs came closer. He just hung limply in Kiba's hold. He didn't even struggle when he saw the glint of metal in the hands of the thugs. He knew that he was about to die, and he couldn't care less. The one person who had shown him kindness had betrayed him.

Naruto realized with a sickening feeling that it had all been a game to Kiba and that he had never held any affection for him. Surprisingly, this betrayal hurt more than anything the village had ever done to him and when he saw the thugs raise their knives to bring them down on him, he found himself wishing in his heart that they would just get on with it so that the pain would stop.

Just before the knives hit their mark, Naruto sat bolt upright in his bed, sweat coating his body and he found himself shivering. It took him several seconds to realize that it was just a dream. When he realized that, he felt relief wash over him, though it was heavily tinged with doubt. He was unsurprised to find that he was crying heavily

'What if that is really how Kiba feels? I am a monster after all. Why wouldn't he hate me?' Naruto thought, and fresh tears streaked down his face. He hugged himself in a fetal position and rocked himself back and forth, lost in his misery.

It took several hours before he was so exhausted that he fell back asleep. Thankfully, he didn't have any more dreams.

Author's Note: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think, what you would like to see, and anything you would like me to know. I hate that I did this to Naruto, but I feel that he still would be untrusting, even after the time that he and Kiba had spent together. Especially when he is alone and vulnerable.