A/N:

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Chapter 1 of the Rebooted Inherent Demons! Before I go on more about the story, I feel the need to apologize here for a previous entry of mine. For those of you who saw and read Inherent Demons: Doppleganger Berufung, both soul and I decided it was simply best to take the movie down and integrate it into the story itself in its designated spot, as it probably should have been. We did this for various reasons, but the biggest one being that despite our hopes of the movie doing well, it was rather... lacking and because of its lack of success, it did have an effect on both of us; but, with that being said, we've taken what I feel are the necessary steps to fix that and hopefully move on.

Now, for Inherent Demons, many of you who have read my old story will see scenes that you have already read before. While I do apologize if you were expecting entirely new content from the get-go, we both looked over my old story and many of the scenes or themes that we felt were necessary in the new story were taken apart, re-worked, edited and now you see the finished product. So while you may see several scenes from my old story in here, especially towards the beginning, I assure you, most of them will be changed in many ways for the better; and, even better, that a whole host of new content lies in the wings for the near and far future.

One last thing before I let you all go. In the original ID (Inherent Demons), one thing that caught Soulfistx's eye and brought him to the point of helping me develop further as a writer, was the flashback system that I had running throughout the story, going between both past and present (future) simultaneously with the timeline eventually converging. While we both liked it (and I'm unsure of how many others did) most of the feedback I received was rather negative in nature, with many finding it confusing or simply too much to be keeping track of. So, regrettably, with the reader's enjoyment in mind, we have taken out the flashbacks, except in two chapters: Chapter 1 and in Chapter 8 (two halves of the same scene). These two flashbacks are integral to the desirable progression of the story and thus, have not been taken out. With that being said, both of these flashbacks (or rather one since they are the same flashback just in different chapters) have been drastically changed from what they originally were and pose a lot of questions about what's happened and why, but these questions won't be answered until much, much later as the story progresses.

So, with that being said, we both hope you all enjoy and let us know what you think.

And if you have any private questions, always feel more than free to PM either one of us. Thanks.

-Crenshinibon


Inherent Demons - Book One - Arc One

Chapter 1

Daymares

Grudgingly opening his eyes, once again, he found his hazy gaze cast on the far wall. Blinking several times to clear his vision, he shifted his line of sight toward the clock on the nearby end table. It read 3:40; it had been another sleepless night.

Carefully rolling onto his back, he propped himself up onto his arm and felt a soft, cool breeze waft in. As his vision slowly became less blurred, he became more aware of his surroundings; the room seemed far brighter than it should be at the current time of day. 'Must be just the moon...' he thought groggily, until a sudden realization struck him: the Moon.

His eyes opened wide in fear as he quickly turned to find his suspicions confirmed; the window above his bed hung wide open, allowing both the cool breeze and the luminous light to sneak into the room. His body immediately went on the alert, his eyes and blond kitsune ears quickly scanning the room for any anomalies. A sudden movement from behind him caused him to quickly jerk off of the low bed's frame, stubbing an elbow against the metal siding before the excessive force of his panic had him tossed, roughly landing on the floor in a jumble.

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" came a female voice from atop the bed as the owner was awoken from her slumber. Naruto scrambled up to his feet, having to use his fox tails in place of his missing arm to pick himself up, and turned towards the woman. The moon gave her porcelain-like skin a soft glow, making her all the more enchanting to behold; her long midnight-blue hair flowed down her curvacious body, framing her angel-like face, and enhancing the three light whisker-like marks etched across each cheek. Much like himself, fox fur covered most of her upper torso, running from her hands and arms up to her neck and going down as far as the bottom of her rib cage; most of the fur covering her body matched the color of her hair, but the fur framing much of her chest was a snowy white.

"Come back to bed, Naruto-kun... everything is alright," she said in a very soft, calm voice in an attempt to reassure him. She could see the terror in his eyes as he held a defensive posture with his one good arm held out in front of him, his fingers bent inward with his sharpened nails exposed to strike; all nine of his blond tails were perfectly still, fanned out around his body and curving inwards towards his hand. She could "feel" that he was frightened, she could hear his accelerated breathing as she slowly crawled out of the bed, having a good idea of the reason behind her husband's current plight.

"He's not here," she said while inching her way towards the man. "I'm alright, there is nothing to worry about."

"You don't know that, he could be anywhere right now and we would never know it," Naruto replied in a shaky voice, slowly backing away from her until he bumped into a wall. He sharply turned his head, confirming that a wall was indeed behind him when measured footsteps drew his attention back towards his wife. She had quickly closed the distance, throwing her arms out in an attempt to catch him, but he proved the quicker, ducking below her arms and using his tails to forcefully keep her at bay. As he tried to make a dash for the door, a sudden pressure around his chest caused his vision to shift down and towards the cause, finding dark-furred tails wrapped around him. "Naruto-kun, you need to calm down," the woman said again in a soft tone, attempting to soothe him while constricting his movements with her own tails, but to no avail.

"Let go of me, Hinata!" Naruto yelled as he gripped tightly onto her tails and began prying them off of his chest. He distinctly heard her yelp in pain, but he didn't care—he had to get out, he had to get away. Freeing himself of her confines, he bolted for the door, slamming into and shattering it; he hit the ground in a roll, tumbling across the wooden walkway until hitting the edge and falling down a short distance into the enclosed garden. Shaking himself of his daze, he swiftly moved onto all three limbs and ran ahead through the garden, only to be jerked back by a sudden pull.

Before Naruto was able to get too far away, Hinata had managed to grab a hold of one of his tails , pulling back in attempt to stop him. "Calm down, Naruto-kun! I'm trying to help you!" she implored, keeping a firm grip on her husband's tail despite his struggling, wrapping her own tails around awning support beams to hold herself steady. Without looking back, Naruto whipped a few of his tails at her, causing Hinata to let go and bring her hands up to block the attack. With his tail free, he broke out full speed down the garden, leaving trampled flowers in his wake.

Not going to let her husband go that easily, she jumped backwards, tightening any slack her tails had on the support beams. As her feet touched the hard wood floor, she jumped again and with a mighty pull on her tails, launched herself through the air. Naruto sensed her presence above himself and came to an abrupt halt. Pushing hard against the ground with his hand, he launched himself into a back flip as Hinata landed silently in front of him.

Despite Hinata now being in front of him, he saw his goal in sight as his gaze listed away from hers and onto the awning behind her. With a powerful upward thrust, he shot over Hinata and past the awning, slamming against the roof of the main building before taking off down the other side and jumping down to the ground. His heightened hearing alerted him of his pursuer as her feet made a soft tap on the ceiling behind him. Without much time to think, he sprinted forward into the large training area, surrounded by a wall nearly four meters tall. During his run across the grounds, his eyes scoured the shadows, checking for any possible threats ahead.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled behind him, causing him to pick up his pace as he passed the archway leading out of the training grounds and sharply turned left. Hinata saw the direction he was going and cut a path to intercept him, tensing the muscles in her legs as she jumped, clearing the wall and landing in front of a stunned Naruto. Hinata started running towards him, but felt something was off. Her suspicions were confirmed when Naruto took a final step and exploded. The blast wave from the explosion launched her backwards onto the ground as dirt was flung every which way.

Disoriented, Hinata shook her head as the dust settled; she moved to her feet, leaning against the wall for support. Knowing that he couldn't be too far, she closed her eyes, focusing chakra into them—"Byakugan!" she mentally shouted, activating her family doujutsu and quickly located Naruto jumping over the outer wall, leaving the compound. Determined to catch him before something else happened, she focused chakra into her feet, pushed off of the wall with her hands and sprinted across the compound to the outer wall, jumping over the same spot that Naruto had not seconds earlier.


Nine years ago...


The day was coming to an end in Konoha, with the sun slowly making its way to the horizon as an agitated Naruto made his way down its various streets. While he didn't pay any particular attention to where he was going, subconsciously he knew exactly where he wanted to go—to his favorite ramen shop, Ichiraku.

"Damn that Ero-Sennin—he promised to train me, but went and vanished one week before my fight with Neji," grumbled the blond with his arms crossed.

Several days prior, Naruto had bumped into the one and only Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, and had convinced him to train him for his upcoming fight. However, no sooner had Naruto overcome his difficulty of drawing forth the Kyūbi's chakra and fully recovered from his challenge with Gamabunta, Jiraiya had disappeared. With the sage nowhere to be found, Naruto was left to his own devices and had since resumed his regular training...

As Naruto continued on his way, something in the distance drew him from his brooding. Coming around the corner from a intersecting street came Naruto's long-time crush, Haruno Sakura. Despite knowing full well that Sakura had a crush on Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto's other teammate, Naruto was never one to miss a chance to win her over.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled happily as he broke into a jog towards the pink-haired kunoichi, drawing her attention. "Are you doing anything?" he inquired with a chipper ring in his voice, coming to a stop in front of her.

"No, why?" she replied, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned to face him.

"I was just on my way to Ichiraku's and wanted to know if you would go with me?" he nervously asked, a light blush creeping across his cheeks as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

Upon hearing the question, Sakura immediately turned hostile. "How many times do I have to tell you, Naruto?!—I will not go on a date with you!" she snapped in response.

"Not like a date, just two squad members eating together!" he finagled, trying to make it work.

"I don't care what you decide to call it, NO MEANS NO! You know that I like Sasuke-kun and still you pester me!" Her eye twitched from the anger that was overloading her system. She was hoping that she had finally gotten through to the happy-go-lucky blond; but, she would have no such luck.

"Sasuke," he spat, "I don't know why you like the guy so much." Naruto turned around, putting his hands on the back of his head in a relaxed manner while closing his eyes in thought. "All he does is brood about this or that. Besides, I could kick his butt!" he challenged.

As the final syllable left his lips, Naruto felt a cold chill run up his spine and the blood drained from his face. Reluctantly, he began to look over his shoulder into the fiery eyes of Sakura.

"NARRRUUTTOOOOO!" she screeched full of rage, arm cocked back ready to unleash her destructive fury on the unfortunate blond. Naruto began to turn, scrambling to bring his arms up in defense, but Sakura's chakra-charged, rage-fueled fist proved to be the faster as it bashed against his cheek, sending vibrations rippling through the inflamed flesh. He felt like he was just hit upside the head with a brick as the punch sent him awkwardly reeling, to crash into the nearby fence, face first. His body unceremoniously slid down along the splintered wood as Sakura stormed off.

'What did I say-ttebayo…' were Naruto's last thoughts as the welcoming embrace of unconsciousness enveloped him.

Further down an intersecting street, at the same instant that Naruto had called out to Sakura, Hyūga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba were having a conversation about the upcoming Chūnin exams—a conversation that Hinata wasn't fully paying attention to.

"After seeing what that Gaara guy can do, I feel sorry for Sasuke," Kiba commented with a shiver. Hinata managed a nod, her mind fixed on a particular blond that she felt an attraction to since she was but a little girl. She was worried due to the fact that he was pit against her cousin, Hyūga Neji, who was said to be a genius.

Kiba glanced over at Hinata and noticed that she wasn't paying any particular attention to him and smiled.

"I wouldn't worry to much about him, Hinata, Naruto isn't the same kid he was back in the academy," he remarked. The very mention of his name drew Hinata's attention from her inner thoughts as she looked at her teammate. "We were all surprised when he was able to beat me. Maybe, just maybe, he can win against Neji, too."

"Kiba-kun...," she started to say until, suddenly, there was a loud crash a few blocks ahead.

"What the hell was that?" Kiba questioned while looking up at Akamaru, his ninken, who was in his customary spot atop Kiba's head.

"Arf. Arf," Akamaru barked in answer.

"Naruto and Sakura?" Kiba repeated while lifting an eyebrow, glancing in the direction the sound had originated from.

Hinata also fixed her gaze on the alley at the mention of Naruto's name. "N…Naruto-kun?" she whispered softly.

As if on cue, a still very angry Sakura stomped out of the alley that she left Naruto in, storming off in the opposite direction.

"Heh, my guess is Naruto said something to piss off Sakura! That guy just doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut... Come on, Hinata." Kiba broke into a jog towards the alley with Hinata on his heels. As they rounded the corner, they quickly discovered the wreckage of Uzumaki Naruto among the broken fence boards.

"Aww man, she really did a number on him," Kiba remarked, scratching the back of his head while Hinata moved to uncover Naruto. "Remind me to not get on her bad side."

Upon clearing Naruto's body of debris, Hinata turned to Kiba. "Please help me move him, Kiba-kun." Kiba moved over to one side of the unconscious blond with Hinata on the other, each picking him up by the arm. Hinata's face turned a light crimson due to her close proximity to her long-time crush and did her best to not faint. Upon picking Naruto up, they were given a perfect view of his two newest additions: a large swollen bruise across his cheek in the shape of a fist and a perfectly rounded lump on his head.

"That looks like it hurts," Kiba chuckled, until he looked up at Hyūga girl. Despite being a normally shy, soft-spoken girl, Hinata seemed to get... very protective when it came to Naruto and the angry look Kiba got was enough indication that he was pushing his luck. Looking around, Kiba spotted a nearby bench. "Let's set him down over there," he said, indicating with a movement of his head.

With Hinata leading the way, the two carried Naruto's motionless body over to the bench and plopped him down in a sitting position. Once he was settled, Hinata sat next to him and began to look him over for any other injuries.

"He's not dead, is he?" Kiba questioned with a gulp. Sakura was probably one of the scariest girls that he knew, with this event only adding onto his rational fear of the pink-haired kunoichi.

"N-No, he's still breathing," she replied upon finding no other serious injuries.

"Well, let's go Hinata, nothing we can really do for the guy. He's out cold." Kiba turned and began walking away when he heard Hinata's voice.

"I'll stay here... to make sure he's a-alright," she nervously called out. Kiba looked back at his teammate, then to the blond before shrugging. "Suit yourself, I'll see ya later." Hinata nodded and watched the boy depart, turning the corner as he went. Once out of sight, she sighed softly to herself and looked over to unconscious blond.

'Naruto-kun… I wish I could tell you how much I care about you...,' she thought sadly, her eyes fixed on his chest, watching it rise and fall with each breath. Naruto suddenly shifted slightly in his sleep, falling onto the unsuspecting Hyūga heiress' lap, causing her to squeak and blush tomato-red at the sudden closeness.

Several minutes passed before she was able to remaster her breathing and calm down, her gaze never leaving the blond's face. 'He's adorable when he sleeps...' She smiled while nervously reaching out with her right hand, running it through his soft, golden hair.

Naruto began moving a little in his sleep at the touch, causing Hinata to quickly jerk her hand back, staring wide-eyed at him from the movement, praying that he didn't wake up. After several long seconds, Hinata realized that she had been holding her breath and let it out slowly.

'Pull it together, Hinata, he's still asleep.' She brought her other hand up to her chest, balling and then gently clenching her fist. Finally calming herself, she once again reached out to pet his head. This time, Naruto didn't move.

Hinata lost track of time as she continued to pet the blond, wishing that this moment would last forever, that she could get the courage to finally tell him how she felt about him. 'One step at a time,' she encouraged herself, smiling happily again at Naruto's sleeping face.

After some time, Naruto began to come to. His head throbbed from both Sakura's fist and the face plant ,but there was also a strange, soothing sensation that Naruto couldn't quite put his finger on. As he became more and more aware, he realized that the soothing sensation was from something rubbing his head.

'The hell is that...,' he wondered, 'it feels... nice.' The unknown rubbing continued as he laid there motionless, enjoying the feeling of contentment that radiated throughout his body. 'As nice as this is... it's probably time that I get up.'

When he began to move, he heard someone take a sudden intake of air and whatever was rubbing his head stopped as well, but he still felt the pressure of something atop of his head. Groggily opening his eyes, squinting against the bright light of the sun beaming down on him. Just making out the outline of something above him, he blinked several times to clear his blurry vision. As it cleared, the two kids found themselves gazing into each others' eyes, Naruto into her lavender eyes and Hinata into his cerulean orbs.

"H…Hinata?" he questioned, noticing her face turn a deep red as they continued to stare at one another before she finally managed a reply.

"N…N…Naruto-kun," she replied sheepishly with her normal hesitation.

Naruto watched as Hinata's face practically glowed red right before she fainted, her body going limp and her hand falling from his head.

"Well that's weird," he remarked. Continuing his inspection of her soft features, his mind began to take him down an avenue he had never ventured before.

'She looks kind of cute...,' he thought to himself as he looked over her pale face, smiling until his gaze started to drift down her body as he rotated his head. Realizing where he happened to have his head, his cheeks turned nearly as red as Hinata's as he jerked trying get off of the sleeping Hyūga only to land on the ground at her feet.

"Oww… that hurt…," he groaned while rolling over, then proceeded to stand up. Finding that the Hyūga girl was still asleep, he decided to wait it out for her to wake up. Taking a seat, he comfortably plopped down next to her.

Several minutes passed before Hinata began to stir. Her eyes fluttering open, her gaze fell on her empty lap. The implication rushed through her head as she quickly glanced over, finding Naruto staring back at her. As they peered into each others' eyes, she once again turned several shades of red under his gaze.

"Hey Hinata, why are you all red?" he asked, tilting his head to the side a little right before she fell once more into the realm of unconsciousness. "Oh come on! I didn't even do anything, dattebayo!" he shouted while scratching his head in frustration. "Guess I'll just have to wait again..." he sighed, staring up at the sky.

Reclining his head back to rest on the top of the bench, he absentmindedly watched the clouds drift by while waiting for her to wake up once again. Slowly, memories of Hinata started to creep into his mind: how Hinata always acted nervously when ever he happened by, how she always followed him when she thought him unaware, the way her stutter increased whenever she was near him. As each memory ran though Naruto's mind one by one, he turned his head and looked at the sleeping Hyūga.

'Why is she always acting so weird around me...?' he contemplated the thought, 'Hmm...' Shifting his attention back to the clouds, he continued to think about Hinata. After a few more minutes, Hinata's movement drew him from his musings. Subconsciously, he put distance between himself and her as she once again looked over at him.

"Fall asleep again Hinata?" he inquired, giving his characteristic grin. A blush found its way onto Hinata's cheeks once again, but she managed to somehow not pass out.

"I'm f-fine Naruto-kun, j-just haven't had a-anything to eat... lately," she said, poking her fingers together nervously while staring at the ground before her. Several awkward seconds passed after telling him her obvious lie. 'I hope he buys it….'

Naruto continued to stare at her, a grin slowly creeping across his face, "Alright then, how about we go out to eat, my treat!" he offered with a brilliant smile. Hinata stared wide-eyed at the blond, unable to believe that he just asked her out, as her face turned crimson, and she passed out once more.

"Not again-ttebayo…" he sighed.


Quickie A/N:

We'll start the chapter title release next chapter! Blame Cren!