Anger

All characters and/or concepts used are property of Masashi Kisimoto and Marvel Comics.

AN: I was reading a fic called "The Incredible Shino" and thought that Naruto is just perfect for the concept. This is an alternate take on Naruto's true nature during the fight with Mizuki, Fujin and Raijin (definitely OOC, as they show some intelligence), if it happened after the timeskip, so it has Sakura too.

'Even now I can feel it...

Buried somewhere deep inside...

Watching me...

Waiting.

But you know what scares me the most? When I can't fight it anymore, when it takes over, when I totally lose control...

I like it...'

Naruto struggled to his feet as the two Idiot Brothers advanced on Sakura.

"No!" he bellowed. "You are not hurting Sakura-chan!"

Reddish-orange chakra began swirling around his body. With a shout and a heave, shockwave cracked the ground around him.

Deep inside Naruto's mindscape…

"Damn", Kyuubi grumbled. "This is bad. I can't hold IT back any longer."

The fox closed his eyes and prayed to whatever deity would listen that this wouldn't go too badly.

The twin human behemoths turned to look at the blonde, in their "angry mode" (no pupils, veins bulging)

"Hey, Raijin, I think he wants some more," Fujin commented.

"Hey, assholes, leave her alone! Your fight…is with me! I'd advise not making me angry," Naruto growled, his voice becoming deeper.

"Oh, really?" Mizuki mocked.

Naruto nodded solemnly, then added something that made Mizuki burst into laughter.

"You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Mizuki's laughter cut off as Naruto began to turn red. His pupils and irises disappeared, the sclera (whites) becoming a yellow color.

"Iruka-sensei…" Sakura murmured, "is it just me, or is Naruto…growing?"

"I don't think it's you," Iruka replied, in awe at the sight.

Naruto began growling, a deep, primal sound that grew into an earth-shattering roar. He was, indeed, growing, his clothes ripping as he transformed into something…inhuman.

The Naruto-thing shook its head and snorted. It towered over the brothers at eight feet tall, its skin a bright crimson with grey veins bulging along its skin, its hair a smoky gray, its eyes a deep yellow. It had enough muscle on it to make the two look like matchsticks, the only clothing that could stretch to fit being spandex shorts Naruto wore under his pants, meaning the thing was naked from the waist up and barefoot. The only Kyuubi-like traits it had were short claws where its fingernails would be.

Mizuki shrank back as the once-Naruto turned its gaze onto him before turning back to the Idiot Brothers.

"Hey Fujin, he looks different than before," Raijin noted.

The creature's mouth opened and it uttered one word.

"SMASH!"

For its size and muscle mass, it was surprisingly fast. Before Sakura, Iruka, and Mizuki could even register its movements, the brute had thundered towards the brothers and sent them soaring with a punch.

Mizuki appeared behind Sakura and held a kunai to her neck.

"I don't know how the Kyuubi brat became that…thing…, but you're going to be my insurance policy." He hissed in her ear.

He whistled and a huge bird flew down. Mizuki and his hostage leapt onto the bird's back and it flew away.

The Naruto-thing's head whipped around and it let out a bellow of rage. It began running after the bird.

Iruka's jaw dropped as the thing leapt into the air and seemed to fly, covering a close to a mile in a single jump.

"Pakkun…I think Lady Tsunade needs to know about this…"

The ninken nodded silently.

Within the creature's mind, two words repeated over and over.

Sakura…smash…

Now, whether or not this meant it wanted to smash Sakura or would smash anything that threatened her was anyone's guess.

"What! No way!" Mizuki shouted when he saw the creature gaining on them…by jumping.

The thing bodychecked the bird, which poofed away in a cloud of smoke. Sakura screamed as she began to fall, only to feel two arms the size of cedars gently wrap around her.

The Naruto-creature landed on the ground in a crouch, the impact making a crater.

Mizuki somehow managed to make it to the ground unharmed also.

"Alright, nine-tailed fox! I guess I'm going to have to take this up a notch."

Mizuki pulled the potion from his pocket and drank it, transforming into his tiger-like form.

The Naruto-creature cracked its neck in a gesture that conveyed 'bring it on'.

Mizuki slashed at the creature with his claws. The creature bellowed in rage as Mizuki scored several normally-fatal wounds to its neck, face, and body, including several holes punched through his chest and his heart, one lung, and spleen being ripped out.

The wounds healed almost instantly, the organs regenerating. Sakura could feel the rage of what had once been her teammate and friend growing…and he seemed to be growing with it, now capping ten feet and with muscles even larger than before.

The Naruto thing decided to end this and clapped its hands together. The shockwave blasted Mizuki back. He staggered to his feet as the thing grabbed a huge tree and ripped it out of the ground like it was nothing.

'Home run!' Sakura thought as the tree was swung like a baseball bat, slamming into Mizuki and sending him soaring. The creature took off in pursuit.

Mizuki crashed to the ground and slid a few feet, creating a furrow in the ground. He stopped right by a pair of female feet with red-painted toenails.

"Mizuki."

He looked up to see the Godaime Hokage standing there with the Konoha 11 (minus Sakura and Naruto), Kakashi, Jiraiya, Iruka, Anko, Gai, Shizune, Kurenai, and Asuma.

Mizuki's body chose then to burn through the rest of the potion, reducing him to a shriveled husk.

"Please, put me back in jail! Kill me! Do something! Don't let that Kyuubi brat get me!" Mizuki begged.

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow.

"Is Naruto's Kyuubi form really that terrifying?"

"It's not the Kyuubi, Tsunade-sama," Iruka put in quietly. "Naruto's become…something else."

"'Something else?'"

The Naruto-thing burst through the trees.

"Oh. Nevermind."

It bellowed a challenge. The shinobi prepared for battle.

"STOP!"

Sakura burst into the clearing, placing herself between Naruto and the others.

"Sakura, get out of the way!" Kakashi commanded. "That thing isn't Naruto! It's dangerous!"

Sakura shook her head.

"No, Kakashi-sensei. You can't fight him. You'll only make him angrier. Rage seems to increase his power exponentially. Please, let me try to calm him down."

"Okay," Tsunade answered. "But if he gets violent, we're stepping in."

Sakura turned to the behemoth and slowly walked towards it. It looked at her as if puzzled as she reached out and stroked its face with one hand.

"Naruto, please, come back to me," she begged, embracing him. The brute returned the embrace, its body seeming to ripple as it shrank back into Naruto. Naruto dropped to his knees, Sakura following.

"Dear Kami…what am I?" he whispered hoarsely.

"It's okay, Naruto. It wasn't your fault. Kyuubi probably…"

"No, baa-chan."

Naruto's voice was now strong and forceful.

"That…thing had nothing to do with Kyuubi. That was me. That is my internal demon, the incarnation of my rage, my hatred, my guilt…my inner evil. Kyuubi has kept it locked away for years, but he can't keep it contained anymore. Even now I can feel it…buried somewhere deep inside…watching me. Waiting. But you know what scares me the most?"

The others shook their heads.

"When I can't fight it anymore, when it takes over, when I totally lose control…I like it. The feeling of release, of letting go of myself, my humanity, and reverting to a primal state, the sense of power, the feeling of being reborn into what I was meant to be…it's addictive. It's like Uzumaki Naruto and Kyuubi no Yoko are merely superficial shells, flimsy disguises that are ripped off to reveal the real me, the…Rage, the Hulk…just underneath."

Sakura helped him to his feet, supporting him. Kakashi took his other side.

"Easy, Naruto. We'll find a way for you to control that part of you, to keep your psyche while transformed," Tsunade promised. "In the meantime, we'll do everything we can to make sure you don't get angry."

"What was that you said, Naruto?" Iruka asked as they walked back to the village, a squad of ANBU being assigned to getting the three escapees back to jail.

Naruto gave a weary grin.
"'Don't make me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry.'"

"We can see that, gaki," Anko replied.

They all chuckled about this.

AN: Yes, I made Naruto into The Hulk. You have to admit, it does fit him and his personality. I chose to use the brand-new Red Hulk instead of the more familiar Green/Savage or Grey Hulks because of Kyuubi; it just fits him better, and his Hulk-form can instinctively draw on some of Kyuubi's power to further increase his own. Add this to the Hulk's already virtually infinite physical power and regeneration, and you get one bad-ass dude! Please read my Rules of Reviewing and let me know if you want to see this Naruto again. If so, I will be making him an "assimilated Hulk" where all his psyches (himself, Hulk, Kyuubi) are fused into one. I might even give him the ability to release blasts or beams of radioactive energy…