Fourth Hokage and Son

Rage

"That's it, isn't it? You're too weak to join the rest of us for training! Always leaving in the afternoons because you can't keep up with the regular class!"

The boy and several of his classmates laughed and snickered at the remark. Only a select number didn't acknowledge his statement, they simply watched the blonde he was offending.

But only raven haired one could see his true reaction.

Bright blue eyes flashed blood red as his irises became slits. The slits remained and Naruto's physique became uncomfortably tense. However, despite their expectations, Naruto merely turned away before he continued to walk towards the individual training grounds on the other side of the school yard.

"Alright, that's enough! Back to your training exercises!" The class dispersed with the call from their sensei, only leaving Sasuke to watch the blonde march away from the class.

The blonde was still undeniably tense and Sasuke saw as droplets of blood made their way from Naruto's clenched fists to the ground. Soon enough, Naruto disappeared behind the privacy fencing... and he had to stop himself from following.

Naruto didn't stop within the training ground, he made his way to the gate, and swiftly jumped over it. He barely waited for his feet to hit the ground before he was off in a sprint, desperate for distance, for silence, for solitude. Deeper and deeper into the surrounding forestry, he drove himself forward.

Every pump of his legs, he pushed harder and faster.

Every breath, he tried not to scream.

Every pang of anger, he tried not to turn around...

To show the boy exactly what he did during his afternoon training. To throw him to the ground and pound his fist into the boy's face. To put him in every hold Danzo had taught him. To abuse his pressure points. To slowly break every bone in his body as he realized the grave mistake he'd made.

Instead, he showed his level of self control. He didn't turn back. He kept running until his legs burned and buckled underneath him. Without a care to how far he'd gone but knowing it was far enough, Naruto finally released the roar that had been building in his throat since the moment the insult left the boy's lips.

All tension left his body and the façade slipped away.  

His eyes turned to full slits as they filled with the deep, bloody red.

The hair on his neck and arms stood on their own accord.

Teeth sharped and elongated. Claws extended.

Whiskers pronounced. Ears pointed.

And he sat there. His arms carefully wrapped around his folded knees as he watched his surroundings. Taking in all sensory information, paying selective attention to the wind as it brushed against his body, filled his lungs, ruffled his hair, and played with his ears.

The fox still growled menacingly and pounded against his cell bars within Naruto's mindscape. But the boy didn't pay attention to the rumble of curses and ill intent. He said nothing to the beast as he calmed his body, his heart rate slowing, his breathing becoming less labored.

But the rage remained.

This week Naruto hadn't been training with Danzo, as the old man had left the village on an abrupt errand. That left Naruto to train on his own during the afternoons at the academy since he wasn't allow to train at the ANBU without Danzo present... and he couldn't retreat to the Vaults because he was grounded for lying to his father- a punishment he still had for another month. Naruto could handle the usually dig from his classmates. But over the last week, with him remaining on school grounds for training but only joining the class for the lecture portions, it seemed that they found it appropriate to continuously insult and nag at him.

With that last insult, his patience had finally snapped.

The fox had long since been pissed. Bashing against the cell bars at every insult, statement, and dig. Growling in his hatred, wanting to unleash his own painful lessons on the class. Not that he was enraged for the sake of the boy, but they doubted the power and capability of a jinchuuriki- and so himself as well. Over the week, his tails had bent the bars and his essence flooded the mindscape... leaking into Naruto to influence his body.

With the blonde's rage equal to the fox's it festered, increased, did not dissipate regardless of how far the foolish boy ran. The control of his body waned, the bars bending further and cracking under the pressure. Surges of chakra rushed throughout Naruto's body, shocking his system, increasing each of his senses painfully. The Nine-Tails growling became dark chuckles.

But it was a pain Naruto was well accustomed to, chakra that didn't wear on him but now fed him, and increases in senses that could be well accommodated.

The boy closed his eyes.

The boy covered his ears with his hands.

The boy sat stilled and comfortably.

The boy breathed through his mouth, sucking the air to the roof of his mouth.

And Naruto waited until each sense was calm and dull. He absorbed the incoming chakra, revitalizing the trembling muscles of his legs and energizing his body. And slowly he turned his concentration inward, bringing himself fully to the mindscape.

Facing the fox, he saw anger and agitation. Red eyes that mirrored his own in shared rage.

The banging ceased along with the growling. The two kept eye contact as Naruto made his way boldly inside the caged area, up to the fox, and stood beneath his snarl. With a smirk, Naruto felt as the overpowering and threatening chakra followed him behind the bars, heard as those bars slowly straightened and snapped, repaired into place, and saw as the familiar chains brought the Nine-Tails to the ground at his feet.

Finding himself on the fox's muzzle, meeting him eye to eye... furious red meeting brilliant blue... "Did you think you'd won? That I'd give you control that easily?" Naruto almost chuckled.

"Brat! You still think you can control me?! This slip up proved that the seal is waning, I will be free soon enough!"

"You're wrong." A deep growl almost knocked him to the floor, "I can't control you... but I can work with you and gain from you."

With that Naruto hopped off the fox and retreated to his side of the bars. The chains confining the fox were removed with a flick of his wrist, "You need to remember that we are one, at the end of the day our interests are aligned. You want to be free of that cell, fine. Problem is I don't want to die. However, I am willing to work with you, to let you influence my body and share my head... but first I need to bare your rage and chakra. As you have so graciously pointed out, I can't do that yet, so you're just going to have to be a bit more patient with me for a little while longer."

Without waiting for a reply, Naruto spun on his heels and turned his back to the nine-tailed fox.

But just before he made his conscious exit, he looked over his should with a small smirk, "Do we have a deal, Kurama?"

Opening his eyes and standing up, he heard the growl resonating in the back of his mind as he stepped forward and made his way back to the academy. His body fully under his control.

A/N: Thank you for your patience! Please comment and let me know what you think. Also if you're interested, I've started another story (not a fanfic- actually a werewolf one)... it's slow updating (less than this one) but I would love your support!