"Is Naruto here?"

Sai looks back at Naruto and then turns back to Kiba who's standing outside their door.

"Well, yeah, he's here," Sai says, however, he's not moving one bit to let Kiba in. "What do you want with him?"

"I just want to talk," Kiba says with a sigh.

"Okay, hold on," Sai says and closes the door on Kiba. He turns to look at Naruto, who is still sitting on the floor. "Kiba wants to talk to you for some reason."

"Huh?" Naruto looks up questioningly at his roommate who only shrugs his shoulders. Cautiously, Naruto stands up and opens the door.

"Hey," Naruto greets. It's been a while since Kiba and Naruto talked to one another, so it comes as a surprise to Naruto that Kiba wants to talk to him all of a sudden. "What do you need?"

Kiba shuffles uncomfortably under the watchful gaze of Sai. He turns to Naruto and asks, "Can we talk somewhere more private?"

Naruto studies Kiba's face. Kiba looks like someone kicked his dog and clearly distressed. To not further the Kiba's apparent gloom, Naruto shrugs his shoulders and silently agrees. Kiba begins to walk down the hall, and Naruto follows after him. Kiba leads Naruto to the stairwell and that's when they have their conversation.

Kiba doesn't know where to start, so he blurts it all out as if he is vomiting. "I saw you kissing Sasuke in the study hall."

This comes as a surprise to Naruto and his cheeks flush red. "Were you spying on us or some-"

Kiba interrupts him by raising his hand. "This isn't about what I did! It's about you breaking our trust. I told you to stay away from him."

Naruto's shoulders slump and his eyebrows furrow. His blood begins to boil as something hot and firey lights his belly. He's fed up with this "Stay away from Sasuke" bullshit. He's tired of people telling him what to do and when to do it.

"Well, what if I want to be around Sasuke? Huh?" Naruto inquires rhetorically. "It really doesn't concern you what I do with my time. If I get hurt then that's my problem, not yours."

"I'm just trying to save you some time Naruto," Kiba says with an agitated huff. "He's bad news, and I don't want you to go down the same path most of us did."

"That's still not your problem. If I choose this dangerous path, then let it happen. Once it's all over, you can gloat in my face and say, I told you so. But until it happens, which it might never, just leave me alone, okay?" Naruto says as he hugs himself.

Kiba glares at the teen before him and grabs the collar of his shirt, pulling him close to his face.

"Let me get it through that thick head of yours, dipshit!" Kiba snarls, his sharp canines peeking from behind his lips. "Stay away from my Sasuke."

Naruto's eyes grow wide as Kiba is clearly threatening him. He hears his heartbeat pound in his ears as the adrenaline pumps through his blood.

So this is what Kiba wants. He wants Sasuke to himself like the rest, Naruto thinks as he looks Kiba in his fierce brown eyes. He was never looking out for me.

Naruto grinds his teeth together and balls his hands into fists.

"Ugh! The problem with you fucking weirdos is that you won't let go of this bastard. If he hurt you so much then how about you stay away from him, okay?! You all whine about how much of a dick head he is but still want to be his boyfriend. Stop being such a fucking hypocrite and take your head out of your ass! He doesn't love you, he loves ME!" Naruto rants as he grabs fistfuls of Kiba's shirt.

He's done talking to this hypocrite. He's ashamed to have ever called Kiba a friend. In a flurry of anger, Naruto pushes Kiba off of him and attempts to leave the stairwell. Kiba snatches Naruto's shirt and pulls him back with a great force. He stumbles and his back hits the stairs. Kiba pins Naruto down by pressing his foot onto his chest.

"Look here fucker, I tried to warn you the first time but maybe I just have to beat it into your fucking skull," Kiba growls as he adds more weight to Naruto's chest.

"Get off of me," Naruto says through clenched teeth. It's becoming harder to breathe for Naruto. As Naruto attempts to grab and push Kiba's foot off of him, Kiba lifts his foot and stomps on Naruto's chest. All air left Naruto's lungs as his attacker stomps on his chest again and again.

Kiba backs away and lets Naruto roll to his hands and knees. He sees the opportunity to kick Naruto while he's down. So again, Kiba lifts his foot and swings it towards Naruto's abdomen, making a direct hit. Tears rim the edges of Naruto's eyes as he coughs out a breath. Naruto feels another shooting pain in his gut and another soon follows. Naruto spits on the ground for he can't swallow nor breathe at the moment. Another kick and Naruto is sure he'd be coughing up blood.

"Do you get it now? Stay away from Sasuke!"

The air Naruto tries to suck in leaves his body the moment Kiba's shoe comes into contact with his stomach. When Naruto has enough he rolls on his back, arms and legs splayed out on the cold floor. Untamed tears roll down his face as his chest rises and falls rapidly.

"You asshole," Naruto gasps, his voice barely above a whisper. "You're crazy to think, I'll fight you over some sleazy boy."

Kiba glares and lifts his foot again. He hovers it over Naruto's neck. Before Kiba can stomp on his neck, Naruto grabs Kiba's raised foot and pushes the unbalanced boy over. While Kiba is falling on his back, Naruto scrambles to his feet and attempts his escape again.

Kiba, just as quickly, lifts himself from the floor and chases Naruto out of the stairwell. He tackles his victim to the ground and turns him over to punch him in the face. Blood smears on Kiba's knuckles as he throws another punch. Naruto's nose bleeds and runs down the side of his face as Kiba smacks his cheek.

"You're a bitch Naruto," Kiba spits on the ground next to Naruto's head. "You don't deserve Sasuke."

Kiba stands up and takes one last look at the damage on Naruto's face. He clicks his tongue and turns his back on his victim. Naruto thinks about swiping at Kiba's legs but reasons against it. He didn't want the psycho to come back and beat him up. Naruto watches Kiba disappear into the stairwell to return to his floor.

Naruto lies pathetically in the middle of the sixth-floor hallway, bleeding and in pain. He didn't want to move, didn't want to go seek help. He just wants to sit here and become part of the floor.

"Why does this shit always happens to me?" He mumbles to himself as he touches the blood leaking from his face.

Naruto reminisces about the time he was in middle school. The bullying was horrible back then too, and now, here, at a different school, the bullying has taken a new form. Manipulation and deceit.

This beating hurt more than the others too. Not just physically but emotionally as well. He thought Kiba was his friend. Only to find out that Kiba is like the other Sasuke-crazed boys here. Naruto realizes that they're all selfish with their own agenda to win Sasuke back. Kiba reminds him of Neji who also backstabbed him in the end.

His so-called friends are turning their backs on him. Who else will ultimately turn their backs on Naruto? Sai? Gaara? He can't trust anyone anymore.

He just wishes that pain will stop.

His idle time is interrupted when he hears, "Yo! Naruto, what the fuck happened to you?"

Naruto turns his head to see Sai, his roommate, and that's when he has a breakdown.

...

A/N: Does this count as a cliffhanger?