Chapter Text
Swimming in and out of consciousness is a strange thing. There's pain. He can tell that much. But other than that not many a thought can be made coherent. It’s tempting to yield to the slumber once more, but the pain worsens, so it seems he has little choice in the matter.
The first thing that occurs to Danny is that the Infinimap has messed something up. Using it was always sort of intense, but it never had the audacity to knock him out before. Not to mention the ache that now plagues the entirety of his body. That’s probably a worrying touch-
The second thing that registers to him is the sounds. There’s a rustling of leaves, quiet chatter of birds some distance away, and most notably- voices, a lot of voices, angry voices.
Danny can’t quite make out the words. This is not surprising considering the pounding in his head, whatever Danny does pick up sounds… tense. Actually, now that he’s waking it starts to seem kind of important to pay attention.
The third remarkable thing that strikes him is just how pissed off he is about this cacophony- A mounting frustration builds as he attempts to achieve greater clarity of mind. Who even are these kids after all- and is it really necessary for them to have at it right next to his sensitive injured brain?
Danny is not in the mood to deal with whatever nonsense has seemingly been thrust upon him this time. His arm is heavy, but he nonetheless raises his hand to rub at his face. “Ugh, could all of you just- shut up for a moment??” he groans. The words come easily, at least- although his voice sounds strange to his own ears. In that same moment he also registers the strange fabric- sleeve?- around his arm. Danny finally opens his eyes.
The sleeve he finds is most definitely not from his closet. In fact- even the hand doesn’t quite seem like his hand. Not to mention that Danny has never seen dark flecks like that dotting his skin before- … Oh.
… Uh-oh.
“Sasuke!” Someone calls.
Danny quickly closes his eyes and focuses on expelling himself from this body. He doesn’t know how he has come to possess someone while unconscious, but ceasing to do that seems like a good priority. Unless he finds that he can’t. Which he does, it seems.
This raises his alarm substantially.
How could he not-?!
Perhaps doing this lying down was too much? That might as well be a thing. He sits up. Ow- His head swims for a moment. He only grows more frustrated, which inspires little patience, so Danny refuses to wait out his dizzy spell before trying again.
He opens his eyes to the same blurs. Still nothing.
Why isn’t it working?
“Sasuke- your body…!” someone calls as his world finally swims into focus.
Wait- Danny realizes. Is that him? Is he Sas- What- Sahs-kay? He turns to the voice, only to find a young girl with pink hair and positively hideous bruises looking right at him.
Danny opens his- or- Sahskay’s?- mouth, but his brain is working a million miles a minute at present. He’s at a loss on what to even say. What in the world happened to her? How come he feels so angry? For a moment he seems angry at her- but that can’t be right- and who are all these other kids?
Danny quickly decides that he is probably angry at them instead. They look guilty enough.
A frown falls over his face. Danny doesn’t know where he is, or what is going on, or why he can’t exit this body- but kicking the ass of whoever had hurt the girl seems like a pretty terrific idea at this point, other concerns be damned. He gets up, suddenly feeling remarkably energetic as he plants his feet- powerful even. But what else is new really? He’s looking at a bunch of kids in strangely theatrical outfits- what are they going to do?
Still, the scene before him gives him pause. There’s way more kids than he’d expected, and presently a grand total of three are passed out on the ground. Somehow he’d even missed the one in bright orange lying right beside him.
So… whatever this group was up to has clearly gotten way out of hand. So much so, that Danny is kind of surprised to find that everything has seemingly come to halt right at his waking. What must he be looking like for them all to pale like this all of a sudden?
Their apparent fear doesn’t seem to bother Danny like it usually would though. If anything, he only finds himself frustrated by their gawking.
“What do you all think you’re staring at?”
As if on cue, that sets the scene moving again. The slouch-guy with the camo-print pants and the bandaged face finally steps back- while a guy holding a limp girl in the back seems to have something urgent to say at the girl in camo-print pants. But all of that is forgotten when Spiky McCamoPants starts shouting over them.
“Dosu! No need to be afraid of this half-dead freak!” Danny’s heart skips a beat at his word-choice.
Danny doesn’t get to contemplate it much though, as Spiky takes some kind of offensive position, raising his palms towards Danny as if to-
“No Zaku- Don’t you rea-!!” Bandages cries.
And then everything suddenly appears to slow down, as something erupts from Spiky’s palms.
Danny’s instincts promptly have him burst into motion. The kids at his feet, Pink and Orange, seem to sit right in the line of fire with him. Within the blink of an eye - He’s fast - their collars are clutched in his hands. It takes little more than a thought to turn them all intangible as an onslaught of seemingly violent air suddenly passes right through them.
That... that is no ordinary human teenager. Danny’s heart is pounding in his throat. "What the hell??" he says to no one in particular once he surveys the damage. A shallow trench appears to have been torn from the ground. Spiky himself seems equally flabbergasted, but Danny has a hunch that it's not this absurd blast of his that’s surprising him. "What the-" Spiky echoes, but then cuts himself off as he takes aim once more.
Danny figures that since he's shown his hand already, he might as well use the cover of the next oncoming blast to get Orange and Pink out of there. Within moments he's moved the pair behind some large tree, leaving a clearly bewildered Pink to drop down next to Orange. Danny briefly wonders if he'd been this fast, but he quickly focuses back on the problem at hand.
That guy was not only bizarrely armed, (hah!) but alarmingly aggressive as well.
Danny ought to address that, really. Perhaps with a fist or two. Danny knows he shouldn’t really be fighting humans, but considering the circumstances… His apathy on this could probably be written off as a side-effect of dealing with Dash Baxter for too long, or so he decides.
At the very least he’ll be making sure that no one else gets hurt, Danny thinks as he turns towards the clearing again.
Pink calls him ‘Sahs-kay’ again as he leaves, but otherwise doesn’t pursue him.
From his periphery, Danny spies two more kids hiding out among the branches up above. But they otherwise go unacknowledged as he focuses on his priority.
It’s only a couple of steps further when Danny returns to the clearing, and takes note of everybody’s renewed positions. The couple of kids in the back continue to skirt along the edge of the undergrowth, clearly eager not to get caught in the trouble. Somewhat worryingly, another kid in green continues to lie motionlessly on the ground, face eating dirt.
Which leaves the team in camo-print pants. Camo-pants Girl seems to have passed out while Danny wasn’t paying attention, and presently resides on Bandages’ shoulder. As for Spiky, an argument seems to have broken out between him and Bandages, with Spiky clearly on the receiving end of some terrible lecture. Danny just about catches something about surviving a ‘curse mark’ when Bandages catches sight of him, and abruptly shuts his mouth. Spiky quickly catches on as to why, an immediate sneer is sent Danny’s way.
“Mark or no mark, at least I’m not chicken-shit enough to give up on the mission!” he yells as he extends his palms yet again. Sheer delight strikes Danny at the provocation, his body feels like it sings. Danny lunges forward before Spiky can even engage his nonsense-blast. Sure enough, he hardly even needs his intangibility to clear the blast. He concentrates a surge of power into his arm, before his fist is planted straight into the guy’s diaphragm. Spiky folds around the impact almost entirely before flying a dozen feet back. A broad smile tugs at Danny’s lips at the sheer exhilaration of it all. His mind is already racing for a cheesy one-liner-
Until Spiky starts choking, coughing and gasping for air. Suddenly, Danny’s exhilaration doesn’t feel so good anymore. This- This is not what he’s supposed to feel like. In fact it almost feels decidedly alien to him- Almost as if…
As if this isn’t him.
The foreign malicious energy swerving through him suddenly stands out like a sore thumb. Danny wastes no time building his ectoplasmic energy, expelling the intruding force with a solid burst from his core.
He’s hit with a strange wave of dizzyness near instantly.
And to Danny’s surprise- It manages to hold on. It’s only a small spot in his neck, but whatever it is retaliates with a sudden piercing burn. Danny can’t help but cry out at the sudden agony.
Spiky scrambles back, still attempting to catch his breath. Bandages moves to his side near-instantly, urging for retreat. Danny doesn't really see or hear them at this point, too occupied with his sudden internal conflict. He clenches his teeth as his senses return, wasting no time in sending another burst through his body. His vision blurs with the flaring burn once again, causing him to stumble.
This does not go unnoticed by Bandages, who suddenly fixates his attention on him.
Hot agony keeps on pushing back into him. He can't seem to expel it. Short on ideas on such short notice, he instead attempts to visualize his ecto-energy as a wall that closes in on the stubborn spot- If he could entrap this-!
His vision blurs further as Danny pushes it back, to a point where -for just the briefest of moments- it even fades entirely… when a third will awakens somewhere inside of his body.
There is a brief moment of panic as Danny finds himself trapped inside of a body with entirely too many wills in it- but then it's over.
The body is… It’s no longer his.
And yet, Danny is still stuck inside of it. He's looking through the same eyes but someone who is distinctly not him raises their shared hand to their face for inspection. The flecks of black appear to be receding, almost as if Danny's grasp of this body had manifested like a case of ghost-measles. The flecks all but disappear from sight in a moment.
"What?" his lips say.
Who, or whatever has taken control doesn’t seem to be much more prepared to fight than Danny was just now. Their movements are still kind of sluggish and disoriented, a fact that now clearly goes closely observed by both figures in front of them.
“It seems I didn’t give you enough credit, Zaku…” Bandages says as he lowers the girl on his shoulder to the ground. Spiky- or apparently ‘Zaku’- grins as he starts making an effort to climb back upright.
Their body tenses, eyes zeroing in on the symbols engraved in their headbands. (Those mean something, Danny supposes?) Danny can feel their eyebrows scrunching up in confusion, and something is starting to dawn on him.
It seems the two tree-kids Danny had spied earlier choose that very moment to finally step into the scene.
“Do not think you can afford to forget about us,” a dangerously low voice suddenly sounds from his left, coming from a boy with remarkably long hair.
Simultaneously Danny starts to wonder if…
Saskay ?
Whoever is controlling the body - most likely Saskay - flinches hard, but none of the surrounding kids seem to take much note of this. In fact it’s almost as if the lot of them are locked into the worst stare-down Danny has ever experienced. The other background kids emerge somewhere from the background as well.
“Nor can you forget about us,” says the bigger boy who… appears to be wearing metal-plated underpants rather than a headband…? The two behind him, each sporting ponytails, seem equally determined to back him up. Danny is fairly certain saw the girl passed out on the boy's shoulder before, but she has since apparently made a miraculous recovery.
Saskay, if it is him, clearly refuses to acknowledge the voice he'd just heard in his head as he surveys his company. His eyes subtly dart between all parties present, but no other move is made to acknowledge them.
“It seems that I too, get to learn something from you today Dosu…” Spiky says. Danny supposes he knows their names now, but he likes ‘Zaku’ much better as a ‘Spiky’. ‘Dosu’, or Bandages grunts, releasing a somewhat beleaguered sigh. He drops to his knees to pick up Camo-pants Girl again.
“A true shinobi can tell when he’s outnumbered,” he says. Then he fishes something out of his pocket. “You may decide what to make of this among yourselves I suppose…” And then the object is unceremoniously tossed onto the ground in front of them. It appears to be a scroll of some kind? Saskay’s eyes definitely appear to eye the thing almost hungrily. And then before Danny can bother to pay proper attention again, Bandages and Spiky have made their retreat.
The other kid that just emerged from the trees - Tree-girl? - blows out some air. It’s a girl in a pink top, her hair pulled up in symmetrical buns. Her sigh seems dramatic, yet leaves the distinct impression that the whole encounter was by all means too bothersome for her to deal with. Saskay watches as she approaches Green-and-dead-to-the-world. The sight clearly puzzles him yet more. “Come On Now, Lee!” comes the sudden shout as she flips Green over less than gently.
“How troublesome…” he hears another boy say, sounding just as strangely blasé as Tree-girl. Remarkably, Green- or should Danny say… Bowlcut- or Eyebrows…? Actually seems to come back to his senses once she’s taken to hoisting him upright by the collar.
“So…” Long-haired Tree-boy starts from behind him. Saskay whips his attention around to give the guy a strong side-eye. Danny is very much taken off guard by the blank white eyes in Tree-boy’s face. It’s hard to determine if there’s even any pupils hidden within. Before the guy can say anything else however he is interrupted by another call.
“Sasuke-kun!”
Behind them Pink is supporting a groggy-looking Orange, as the two of them come lumbering into the clearing.
“What even happened…???” Orange drawls, probably mirroring Saskay's feeling with his confusion. The actual Saskay attention is zeroing in on Pink’s still terribly bruised face turning ever more colorful. He finally seems to be ready to speak- before suddenly closing his mouth again. “Wait-! What about the Snake-creep?!!” Orange then yells, suddenly perking up as he looks up at Pink. “Not now Naruto!” Pink says as she immediately takes to knocking him on the head. That strikes Danny as poor bed-side manner considering the guy remains in clearly bad shape. “Wait, Sakura-chan! Your Hair!!” Orange yells, taking the beating in stride at this revelation.
“As lovely as it would be to play catch-up with you all…” Tree-boy starts, voice nearly dripping with poorly disguised apathy. “I’m sure all of you can acknowledge that the scroll is ours to take.”
“Seriously?!” Ponytail-girl all but screeches. Danny wonders whether to rename her ‘Blondie’ or ‘Purple’, but neither strike him as particularly creative… “You’re an ass, Hyuuga!” she shouts.
“Neji…” Tree-girl says softly in stark contrast to her not so gentle treatment of Eyebrows. (Who is still getting held up by the collar and lolling his head about.) “We already have an earth-scroll…”
“Which scroll it is, is irrelevant. I do not intend to acknowledge such weaklings as my opponents just because some of them got through on a hand-out,” Jerkface replies.
“You’re the only ones that didn’t even fight!” Purple Blondie shouts- Danny ops to maybe stick with Ponytail after all.
“Give-… give it to Sakura-san!” a voice to their right says hoarsely.
It’s Eyebrows. He’s still looking like he’s figuring out how to support himself on his own arms, but he is otherwise staring Jerkface down determinedly. Tree-girl seems to loosen her iron grip on his collar as well.
“Just because your crush-” Jerkface starts, before-
“She fought admirably!” Eyebrows interrupts. Tree-girl takes to helping him up.
Saskay’s head turns to Pink. It’s quick enough to show surprise, but Danny otherwise can’t make out much from the face Saskay is making. He is starting to learn that Saskay might prefer not to emote much.
“Had it not been for Sakura-san, Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun would have surely come to harm! Her-” Eyebrows winces in pain momentarily. “Her youthfulness should be commended!” he nevertheless finishes strongly, finally back upright. Blood is trickling out of his ear and Danny immediately finds that Eyebrows is his favorite among all of these kids.
The stare-down between him and Jerkface lasts for a moment longer. But it’s not long before Jerkface appears to concede with little more than a grunt.
Saskay watches the guy start to walk away. Tree-girl quickly pulls Eyebrows’ arm over her shoulder, so she can get them to Jerkface’s side. It seems Jerkface has turned around to get one last word in however. “As for you-” he says slowly, this time looking directly towards Saskay.
“I had expected better from ‘Rookie of the year’.”
And then they’re gone.
For a moment the clearing is completely silent, but naturally Ponytail is the first to break it. “Talk about a stick up the ass!” she exclaims.
“Man, no wonder Bushy-Brow wants to beat him so much…” Orange says.
“Unbelievable…” Ponytail continues.
“Sasuke-kun,” Pink says. “Are you alright? You sounded like you were in pain earlier…”
Saskay turns his head away near immediately. “I’m fine,” he insists. Danny snorts. Saskay tenses. Oops, did he hear that? Which reminds him…
As Ponytail sidles up to Pink, Danny thinks that this bizarre experience of his probably requires some tending to as well. He attempts to phase out of the boy again, but if anything his attempt only serves to agitate that strange spot in Saskay's neck. The boy's consciousness seemingly wavers. There's a sudden vertigo that Saskay immediately turns to blinking away, determined as ever not to show any signs of confusion or hardship to those around him. He wobbles a little bit but otherwise holds up admirably.
So… powers are out of the question then. Not unless Danny means to possess the kid all over again anyway. And possessing this kid all over again seems kind of mean at this point.
Danny supposes he wouldn’t really know how to interact with any of these eccentric middle-schoolers anyway. Better to leave that up to Saskay. For now, at least…
To Saskay’s palpable relief, Orange seems to take everyone's attention away from him as the guy once more demands to know what he’s missed. All this other guy - previously Ponytail-guy, now… Mr. Unremarkable? - can do is sigh dramatically, while Underpants goes to pick up the scroll-thing that remains in the dirt.
They all watch him walk over to Pink next. He offers the scroll for her to take. Pink shows a moment of hesitation, but ultimately accepts it from him.
Seeing how Ponytail, Pink and Underpants then continue to make conversation, Mr. Dreary finally comes over towards Orange and himself. He doesn’t seem in the mood to help though when Orange repeats his question. Instead the guy just plops down on a mossy patch and calls to wake him up once they’re ready to catch or gather dinner. Orange then turns an expectant look towards Saskay. Tension suddenly comes to line Saskay’s shoulders. “Forget it, loser,” he snaps.
Oh right, Danny almost forgot that Saskay too only just got tuned in.
“Aw man! What did I miss!” Orange complains, somehow unsurprised to find that nobody will talk to him. Danny finds that kind of curious considering the fact that uhh... Spiky mc-murder-palms just tried to blow a number of them to bits.
Things remains strangely tense, until Saskay finally spots a small encampment by some tree-roots. He beelines for the packs, and Danny figures that he’s probably just antsy to seem busy.
So the scene quickly devolves into what appears to be a kind of regular camping ground. Ponytail has taken to giving Pink a haircut. (It does appear a little sloppy.)(Wait... with a knife?) Underpants has initiated some kind of conversation with the other boys, and sure enough, even Saskay rejoins them once he’s fetched a canteen of water. He makes a distinct effort to seem appropriately stand-offish though, as he clearly means to prevent any funny ideas about talking to him. When Orange starts eyeing the canteen in Saskay’s hands he’s at least charitable enough to hand it over though.
The boy listens to their conversations intently, as he’s surely attempting to derive the recent sequence of events. Danny tunes it out. He considers what to do next. He has no idea where he is after all. Plus, if his memory serves him right, then Danny should have had the Infinimap around shortly before he got here. Alarmingly, he has no clue where it could have gone. He sure hasn’t seen any sign of it since he got here.
If it were here that certainly would make things a lot easier. Then he wouldn’t even need to consider where ‘here’ is. He’d simply be on his merry way home already. Still, Danny doesn’t like to think that the artifact could have just gone and landed somewhere in this strange forest either. Especially among all these strange kids. Could any of them already have made off with it…?
Naturally this scenario would assume Danny can even ‘exit’ Saskay in the first place. Which is something he’s really not so sure of at this point. If at all possible, he really would rather avoid derailing this child’s life just to solve Danny’s problems. But, can he?
Danny considers what he might do if he is to remain trapped like this. It wouldn’t be the first time that Sam and Tucker or even his sister had to bail him out of trouble. At least Danny is pretty sure that if he can get Saskay back to Amity Park, then the four of them could work something out together. … Maybe the Fenton Ghost Catcher…?
The list of problems to solve suddenly seems a lot longer than he had initially considered.
It’s only when Sasuke starts fingering something sharp in his pouch that Danny is finally torn from his musings. Do all these kids carry knives??? He wonders. It’s shortly followed by the sharp pain of splitting skin. Hey, whoa- what do you think you’re doing! Danny signals to him. His only response is a distinct downwards tug on the corner of Saskay’s mouth. At least the kid also removes his hand from the pouch though. Why do you even have knives on you- aren’t you like, what- twelve…?
It doesn’t elicit any response, but the stiffness in Saskay’s posture has Danny wondering whether he might have some kind of stick up his ass too.
It seems that the boys have chosen that moment to get a move on though. The prospect of this hunt clearly has Sasuke eager to get moving as well, even if numerous aches have made themselves known across his body at this point. If Danny were in his situation he would’ve bemoaned those aches fifteen minutes ago.
The moment Saskay turns to go is also the moment that the neck-spot suddenly starts acting up again. It’s so sudden that Saskay and Danny both flinch from the pain. Danny immediately clamps down on his ecto-wall again, and sure enough- Saskay succeeds in fighting off his sudden wobbliness. He quickly looks around to check if anyone saw, but sure enough- too many of them did.
“Sasuke-kun…” Pink starts from her patch in the dirt by Ponytail. “Maybe you sh-”
“I’m fine,” Saskay insists. He intends to head for Orange and Underpants’ direction, but Boring approaches before he can get there.
“Hey man,” he starts. “I’ve been thinking that I really don’t want to eat anything from this forest raw anyway, so like- you could probably put your genes to good use and make us a suitable cooking fire right? The wind’s not bad right now. We could probably get away with it…” he says casually, dragging his nails through his neck-hairs in a languid motion.
“Are we having barbeque?” Danny hears Underpants say from a little ways away.
Saskay outright glares, but Snooze hardly seems fazed. He only turns towards the increasingly enthusiastic pair to their left. “Don’t get ahead of yourselves, between all the giant centipedes and super-sized geckos I think we’re lucky to find anything mammalian at all,” he tells them.
By Saskay’s lack of pursuit, Danny figures that Naptime has gotten through to him though. Not that Saskay has to like it. He quickly turns into the brush- almost stomping as he makes sure to put some distance between himself and the clearing. It’s clear as day that Saskay is a mountain of frustration at this point.
And as much as Danny does want to talk, he kind of feels for Saskay.
So when Saskay finally gets around to picking up bits and pieces of firewood, Danny keeps his mouth shut.
It doesn’t take very long for Pink to come join him after that, evidently having been released from Ponytail’s clutches. The haircut only makes her look slightly less like shit.
Saskay hardly seems to be capable of looking at her.
“I just wanted to say… thank you for saving me, Sasuke-kun…” she says with a pitifully soft tone.
“Hn,” Saskay says by way of some kind of response.
Danny wonders about what Eyebrows said of Pink’s own dedication to saving Saskay- and notes how no move is made to thank her in return.
It’s starting to dawn on Danny that maybe Saskay deserves a suitably derogatory nickname himself at this point. The moment he thinks that is the moment that Saskay makes a terribly offended face at nothing though.
That-… Oh. He heard that didn’t he?
Luckily Pink doesn’t notice much of anything while Saskay determinedly keeps facing away from her.
Another piece of firewood is stacked on his arm.
“Sasuke-kun, I-” Pink starts, then stops. “That mark- it’s hurting you, isn’t it?”
Mark? If that would explain this burn thing- if it explains him-! Danny’s immediate instinct is to try and look at the spot on his- or not his neck- but in the process almost squashes Saskay aside again. He really needs to start watching his big stomping intentions.
Naturally Pink is more than a little alarmed to find Saskay swaying that far to the side again. She yelps as she scrambles to get a hold of his arm. It’s a close call this time, when Sasuke somehow fights the downwards momentum into an awkward little dance-step. A number of branches slip from his grasp and clatter onto the forest floor. Despite Danny’s fairly quick reaction time the spot does still keep on throbbing though. My bad!! he calls.
Saskay actually curses, trying to take a few steps back. He forces some heavy breaths through his nose at this point. Is he… panicking…?
“Please, Sasuke-kun… Tell me what’s happening to you!” Pink pleads, apparently reluctant to let go of Saskay’s arm. Saskay quickly tugs it out of her grasp however.
“It’s nobody’s business but my own!” he says.
She did apparently get beaten to a pulp to save your ass dude, be nice to her maybe??
Saskay all but flinches at that, but the frown on his face does appear to melt a little. He starts reaching for the scattered firewood.
Pink just kind of looks on quietly.
It’s only when Saskay has collected the last branch that he finally appears to be gearing up to say something.
“… It wasn’t me…”
“…What…?”
“It wasn’t me who saved you!” he says as his hands clench around the branches. “I don’t know what it was- But it- I-… I only felt like I woke up by the time that guy was already on the ground- and even J-Hyuuga had to-!” He clenches his teeth.
“Sasuke-kun- I don’t understand…” It’s only then that Saskay turns to look at Pink. She’s holding her arms to her chest, clearly scared for the implications. Although perhaps not as scared as Saskay had sounded himself just now while talking about how it wasn’t him.
“It keeps talking to me- commenting with all these… inane observations-!” Excuse me? “Apparently Bushy-brow was its ‘favourite’!” Saskay exclaims incredulously. Oh wait, he heard that too?? Clearly Danny has been elephanting his thoughts and feelings around in more ways than one. “It doesn’t even know what a kunai is!” You can just call me a ‘he’ you know- I’m hardly an ‘it’. Saskay barks a somewhat hysterical laugh.
“Oh, pardon me! It prefers to be called a ‘him’!” he exclaims. Danny is starting to get slightly worried for the kid at this point. He’d seemed so tight-lipped before, but apparently he’s really just gone in for the whole pound-
Dude, try to calm down. You’re not making a great impression here-
“I am perfectly calm!!” Saskay shouts back.
Pink has taken a few steps back herself at this point. Eyes spread wide despite all the bruising she’s sporting.
You’re kind of freaking her out-
Saskay apparently refuses to even dignify that with a response. Instead he stomps over to another fallen branch and stuffs it underneath his arm.
Look if you let me handle this for a bit I could just explain it to her.
“Fuck. No!”
His face is actually starting to feel kind of hot with anger at this point. You’re throwing a tantrum right now, man. Be reasonable-
“Shut up- Shut up!” Saskay shouts- suddenly wrenching his eyes shut in some attempt to shut Danny out as well. Danny can feel the kid’s will pushing back against the spot, but it matters little when it comes to ghosts after all. Danny mentally makes a point of sighing as he reaches back out into Sasuke.
The mark immediately fights back with a vengeance. Danny can’t help but spend his first few seconds back in charge gritting his teeth and squeezing at his neck. The angry energy- the malice is still there. But Danny finds that he can manage it for now, there’s no reason for him to think he’ll succumb to this.
“S-Sasuke-kun…?” Pink quietly sputters from his side.
“Ugh- I really gotta find out what this ‘mark’ is, fast,” Danny mutters. He quickly composes himself though, glad to have somehow kept an iron grip on the stack under his arm. He turns to Pink with what he hopes is a reassuring smile.
“Hi, uh- You saw how Saskay was kind of starting to freak out, so I put him in time-out for a moment.”
Pink looks less than reassured. If anything, going by how rigid she is she almost seems frozen. At least… until she suddenly thaws out, gasps, and backs several steps away. Her hands bat behind her for some kind of support which she finds by some shrub. “What- what are you!” she says somewhat breathless.
“Uh, rude- but not an unreasonable question I guess.” Danny shrugs. “The important part is that I’mmm trapped in your friend…? This is kind of new for me too, to be honest… But, uh, also- you should know that I have no ill will towards any of you!” he says with a slightly forced cheer. “In fact it would be best if all of us could go our separate ways as quickly as possible…” he finishes with a nod and a smile.
Pink apparently got refrozen by her shrub. Eventually she looks him up and down. “You… You were the one in Sasuke-kun’s body…? When you pulled Naruto and I out of the way…?” She squints somewhat. “You made that jutsu pass right through us…?”
Danny nods again. He isn’t sure what she means by ‘jutsu’ but passing through things sure is what he does.
“But you’re- you’re not Sasuke…”
“Yeah. Uh, it’s nice to meet you- you can call me Phantom if you like.”
Pink just keeps staring at him all bug-eyed. It’s starting to make Danny feel kind of uncomfortable.
“Look, uh, I’ll return Saskay’s body back to him shortly, but I just need to ask one question- I mean- you’ve been around Saskay the whole time, right?”
Pink continues to look unsure about just about anything that is happening right now, but she does nod with a stutter eventually.
“Ok, good- have you seen a map around? Or a scroll- about this big…” Danny holds his hands about a foot apart. “Golden bits at the ends, possibly glowing?”
Pinks expression then finally morphs from a blank one to an utterly confused one, brow scrunching up. Her mouth falls open slightly. “… No…? I… I haven’t seen anything like that…”
Danny can’t help but sigh. That complicates things. He scratches at the back of Saskay’s neck.
“Well then… umm… I guess that’s it then… I’ll get going- but… uh-” He takes the stack of firewood into both his hands and slowly steps over to Pink. “He might drop this- so if you could…” He nudges the stack towards her.
Pinks eyes dart between his face and the stack hesitantly, but ultimately she still summons the resolve to take it from him.
“Thanks-” Danny says, nodding once more with a polite smile. “Seeya.”
And then he puts the wall of ecto-energy back into place.
Saskay immediately takes the biggest gulp of air he possibly can. He stumbles over, his knees landing in the dirt. “WHat-!” he wheezes, desperately catching his breath.
“S-Sasuke-kun…?” Pink says, cautiously stepping closer.
“What did it do?!” Saskay asks her in a half-panic. “What did he do just now??”
“I-” Pink starts, clutching onto the firewood-stack like a buoy. “He just said a few things, Sasuke-kun. Nothing else!” It’s true. Couldn’t have been more than one or two minutes.
Saskay somehow recoils away at this. Causing Danny to feel a sudden pang of guilt. He didn’t think Saskay’s reaction would be this bad.
Saskay promptly appears to be done with the emotional overload though, as he suddenly gets up and starts stomping back towards the clearing. “I’m heading back,” he announces somewhat belatedly when Pink scrambles to follow him.
“But, Sasuke-kun-!”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he hisses. “Not now, anyway…”
Pink seems to accept that for now.
Danny does want to talk. But… he kind of overstayed his welcome, didn’t he…?
Danny makes a mental note of apologizing to Sam and Tucker. He wants to go back. But for that he needs these kids to want to help him too, right…? At least, Danny really doesn’t want to consider what would become of him were he to just strong-arm these twelve-year-olds into doing his bidding…
-
It turns out the hunting party got remarkably lucky, and managed to catch themselves an honest to god boar. Danny supposes he’d seen some stuffed specimens around Vlad’s estate, but still finds himself fascinated with it. Saskay surprises him too by his apparent ability to spit fire. (Are all of these kids magic??) So all in all, it doesn’t take the party of six long to get their barbeque all set up.
It’s a fairly amiable atmosphere. Light conversation is made, but neither Saskay nor Pink participate much. Luckily all but Orange seem to accept this. Ponytail, Underpants and Pink all seem to be doing a fairly remarkable job at directing him away from Saskay though.
It’s long past dark by the time they’re done. Somewhat surprisingly, the end of dinner seems to mark the end of their get-together too. All seem to agree that abandoning the campsite is in their best interest, and so some meager goodbyes are exchanged.
Leaving only Orange, Pink and Saskay to depart on their own.
Danny notes that all of these kids have remarkable leaping prowess. (He’s really starting to wonder in what kind of world he could have possibly ended up.)
Danny doesn’t really like the sound of their whole plan though. If they’re so desperate not to catch too much attention in an apparently dangerous forest, why wouldn’t they stay together?
The trip they take isn’t long. Moving through the dark isn’t much fun in a forest as pitch-black as this one after all. Once arrived at their new campsite, they swiftly set-up a number of traps. Then from one moment to the next, Danny hardly has to blink before Orange and Pink are on their cots, leaving Saskay to take the first watch.
It’s quiet.
Orange gets a quiet snore on about twenty minutes in but other than that, there is only the rustling of the leaves in the wind, the peculiar birds in the distance, perhaps something that sounds like bats some ways away?
It’s maybe about an hour in when Saskay opens his mouth.
“Are you still there?” he asks quietly.
Danny almost doesn’t respond, he’s so surprised.
I am.
Saskay swallows thickly, clearly trying to quell his nervousness. “That stunt you pulled earlier…” he says as he directs his eyes straight ahead. It’s not like he can actually look at Danny, but apparently that doesn’t stop Saskay from giving off the impression that he can. “Don’t do it again.”
It’s remarkable how threatening the kid makes it sound.
Naturally they both know Saskay hardly has anything to say in the matter. Danny would laugh but… He supposes he has started to feel a lot more conflicted about snatching the kid’s body away from him.
Okay… he responds somewhat quietly.
And then it’s quiet again.
Danny wonders how he’s ever supposed to get out of here if communication with Saskay will stay like this.
All of a sudden he’s feeling pretty fed up actually.
Look, I don’t want to be here any more than you do, he tells Saskay. I’ve tried to be sensitive to your situation, but I have people that I need to go back to as well- Saskay’s nostrils instantly flare up at that, and Danny can tell that he’s somehow offended the kid again. I understand that you’re intent on ignoring me as best as you can, but I can’t allow that to be how things go down. You understand?
“What do you want from me?” Saskay asks. He’s moved the arms in his lap a little tighter into himself. He’s afraid. Danny knows. But he also needs Saskay to understand that he matters too.
I think what I want is what you want: For me to get out of here. We should be able to cooperate on at least that much, right?
It takes a considerable moment for Saskay to sort-of-hug some more comfort into himself before he responds. “… Right…”
Right… Danny echoes. He takes a deep mental breath to calm down a little. I’ll need to know everything you know about this thing in your neck, what it does, and how it got there. Preferably first thing in the morning. We’ll see where we’ll go from there.
Saskay doesn’t answer, but Danny supposes he doesn’t need him to right now.
Goodnight… he says a bit lamely.
Saskay doesn’t say it back.
-
Morning seems to come faster than any one of them would have liked it to.
It turns out that Danny is still capable of getting a snooze on, provided that Saskay is at least as unconscious.
It also turns out that while conked out Danny is not capable of holding up his little barrier. Because Saskay wakes violently at the crack of dawn- an only partially repressed scream on his lips, trashing violently as he discovers the markings and the malice seeping into his being. Naturally Danny is fully awake the moment this occurs, and it takes little effort to push it all back again. I gotchu…! he says in what he hopes is a reassuring tone. Sure enough, Saskay does stop outright panicking the moment he realizes the markings are receding.
“Sasuke-kun?” Pink says in a remarkably clear voice for someone who just woke up. She’s by his side within a moment. “Sasuke-kun, are you alright?” she asks, putting her hand on his bicep.
“It’s nothing,” Saskay predictably says, eager to get away from her touch. Something quirks at his lip and Danny realizes he’s ashamed.
“What’s going on…?” Orange asks groggily, rubbing his eye. It’s kind of adorable. Danny also wonders if it’s weird to think that twelve-year-olds are adorable when you’re only sixteen.
“We should move,” Saskay says with a slightly strangled tone. Pink continues to look worried, but nods resolutely. ‘Someone may have heard that,’ it goes unsaid.
Packing is swift with as little as they unpacked in the first place, and it’s only with minimal complaining from Orange that the trio is on the move. They seem to be going pretty fast from what Danny can tell, but by Saskay’s frown he can tell the kid isn’t satisfied. He’s still hurting after all, if anything it appears that some of his bruises have only just gotten around to full bloom. Pink too is still struggling with a nasty cut on her thigh, and even Orange seems a little low on spirit.
They opt to hide in the canopy this time. They’re all a little winded.
“We should continue to rest,” Pink says when she’s caught her breath. “We’re not in the condition to get a heaven scroll at this point. We still have four days left to complete the second exam, so… let’s just make the most of the peace and quiet while we can…” It’s telling that she gets little complaint from either of her friends.
Orange wastes no time retrieving his sleeping cot again, and goes to make himself comfortable among the branches.
“If you fall out of this tree, Naruto, I swear to god-” Saskay starts.
“Shut up, bastard!” Orange pouts. “I won’t fall, alright…?” he mumbles, seemingly already halfway to dreamland.
Pink quietly watches the interaction, but then returns to her apparent task: Cleaning and tending to some of her wounds. Evidently the cut on her leg had opened up again over their morning exercise.
She could use a couple of stitches on that… Danny remarks.
Saskay jumps slightly. He clearly hadn’t been expecting to hear Danny’s voice again so soon into their little moment of respite.
Unfortunately Saskay also seems intent on ignoring him once more. Danny continues to find it pretty frustrating, but at least he can understand a little that Saskay might not want to let his friends hear him talk to himself. Instead the kid sits and rummages through his pack, pulling out some kind of rations bar.
Danny can’t help but wince as he continues to watch Pink work though. Once she’s finished cleaning the cut, she’s already taken to unpackaging a fresh roll of bandages after all.
Seriously, if she doesn’t get the stitches it’ll be that much longer before it heals. Keeping that wound closed is kind of imperative at this point.
Saskay loudly undoes the wrapper on his rations bar, and crinkles it a bit extra as he attempts to cover his response. “Shut up. You’re not a medical professional,” he whispers.
Evidently, it’s not actually enough to keep Pink from hearing him. Saskay’s cheeks burn a little as he takes a very focused bite out of his bar.
I’m not… Danny admits. But I’ve probably put about a couple of hundred stitches into myself at this point.
Saskay nearly chokes on his bar.
The coughing lasts long enough even, that Pink awkwardly scoots over, careful not to jostle her leg, so she can pat Saskay on the back. “Is everything alright, Sasuke-kun?”
Saskay just keeps coughing.
Well…? Danny prompts once the kid’s breathing finally starts leveling out again.
Saskay takes to eyeing Pink as the last couple of coughs recede. Even once abated, Saskay still takes a clear moment to search for any other course of action besides the obvious. It’s only when the ongoing silence threatens to embarrass him that he finally gives in. “He says… it needs to be stitched…” The reluctance all but drips from his words.
Pink doesn’t quite seem to follow along. “Eh…?”
“Your leg. Apparently the healing will take much longer if you don’t get some stitches,” Saskay explains.
Pink’s cheeks color a little. “I-… Are you sure…? Is he sure?” she asks, sounding slightly distressed.
I’m sure.
“He’s sure.”
“I- uh…” Pink starts. Danny doesn’t really know what she wants to say, but evidently neither does Pink as no further words follow when she opts to scoot back a little bit and reach for her pack instead. Saskay seems to have momentarily forgotten about his rations bar as he watches her dig out the needle and thread. There’s a moment of hesitation the moment it’s in her hands.
Not much progress is made from that point on.
“Sasuke-kun…?” Pink eventually asks, still holding the needle and thread in mid-air.
“What is it?” he asks unassumingly.
“Could you… do this for me…?” she finally asks. She doesn’t even seem capable of looking him in the eye.
Saskay’s cheeks warm a little as well. “Umm… I guess I could…” he says casually, but Danny can read the hesitance from his movements clear as day.
It’s not difficult, he reassures. But sewing with confidence helps. It’s better to sew a little sloppy than it is to be hesitant and indecisive.
Saskay is sitting beside Pink’s leg now, staring intently at the gash in front of him. Pink herself seems a little fidgety, but she soon tucks her arms in close to her chest, seemingly afraid to interfere in any way.
“Okay,” Saskay says a little hoarsely, turning his gaze towards the needle. There’s a remarkable calm to him as he finds the end to the coil of thread, and ultimately threads the needle with it. It’s only once he’s done that the nervousness returns. He shifts a little, anxiously seeking a better position, and extends his hand to gently lay it on her outer thigh.
Pink almost jumps a little, but keeps a brave face.
It’s only then that Saskay attempts to lower the needle to her skin.
You might want to keep a clean rag handy, wipe that last streak of blood away. Not to mention that you’re about to jostle the wound a little bit, and you need to be able to see what you’re doing, even if more blood comes out.
The fingers to Sasuke’s right hand gently come to rest on Pink’s leg then, the needle between them still suspended a few hairs away from actually making contact.
And then it stays like that.
It’s almost funny, finding Saskay frozen up in much the same way as his friend had been a moment earlier- despite having ostensibly taken on this task to save her this trouble. But they do actually need him to pull through here.
Sasuke licks his lips once before inhaling carefully, and when Danny almost expects him to unfreeze-
“What if… what if you do it…” he says in a slightly higher pitch than what Danny is used to hearing at this point.
“S-Sasuke-kun…??” Pink squeaks slightly.
Are you sure?
“Y-yeah- what’s the harm… right…?” His tone only continues to pitch up further. It’s also clearly a question he’s not really expecting an answer to.
Danny opts to just relieve him before anyone can respond to his plea for reassurance, which Saskay surely does not actually want to hear. Alright then, if you say so…
And then he pushes back decisively. Not aggressively so, but still firm enough not to leave any room for second thoughts.
And just as last time when Danny took over, the mark in Saskay’s neck comes to burn again. Danny keeps his eyes closed for a moment as he breathes through it, Saskay’s hands still rest right where he left them.
“S-Sasuke-kun???” Pink stutters.
When Danny opens his eyes the flecks have once more crawled onto his arms. Danny won’t let it bother him though, he turns a polite, if somewhat forced smile to Pink.
“Sorry, uhh… I don’t think I’ve caught your name yet?” he says. He meant to say something reassuring but belatedly realized that he didn’t have anything to call her by besides ‘Pink’.
Pink’s posture becomes the very definition tense. Her muscles suddenly all clench up, including the curling of her toes as she goes rigid. She doesn’t try to move away from him though.
“I-it’s Sakura!” she says a little too loudly. “Haruno Sakura!”
The manner of her response makes Danny a little uncomfortable still. But considering the circumstances Danny supposes he can’t really blame her.
“Alright Sakura, uh- Saskay seemed to prefer that I do the stitches, is that okay with you?”
Pink continues to stare at him with wide eyes. “Well- you were the one that said I needed them right?”
Danny nods. “It would help the healing process along quite a bit. Especially if you’re gonna need to be moving around more shortly after this.”
Sakura nods. Then her expression grows determined. “Then yes, I would like it if you could do these stitches for me, Phantom-san.”
Danny still doesn’t really understand what the extra syllables behind people’s names are about, but he supposes that is about all he needs. And so he turns his attention to Sakura’s medical kit, and fetches himself something appropriately disinfected to help him do this. He gently wipes the remaining blood away.
It’s not like Danny is devoid of nervousness either. He’s done little stitching on other people after all… He’s done some on Sam once. But usually it’s just him that needs stitching up. And even on the few occasions that Danny’s friends get injured, they –unlike him- could just go to the actual emergency room. Although Tucker has been known to pester Sam for sutures instead.
“So, umm… I heard something about an exam that you mentioned?” Danny says in some attempt at distracting his patient. That’s what doctors do right? He uses his free hand to press the wound closed.
“Y-yeah… It’s the second one- to see if we have what it takes to become Chuunin,” she explains. Danny immediately opts to take this first opportunity to jam the needle in her leg. Sakura inhales sharply, but no other sound escapes her. “I see,” Danny says, despite not having one clue about what a ‘chuunin’ even is. “It’s like a survival exercise…?” he asks, hoping to get her to stop pressing her lips together.
“In part… yes…” she answers. Danny goes in for the second stitch. Her breathing continues to stutter a little, but she is evidently determined to finish her explanation. “Each team is handed either an earth… or a heaven scroll. Only teams that acquire b-both will be able to pass the exam.” Danny just about finishes the third. He frowns.
“Is that why you were attacked? Do they encourage you to do that…?” he asks.
“I’m… Not sure… They said they came for Sasuke-kun… That man… He said his name was Orochimaru. He had said that they would come too…”
“This man wasn’t any of your instructors I hope?”
“No! No I- I have no clue who he was… I don’t think he was here for the exam. He just wanted Sasuke-kun for some reason… He’s the one that put… that put that mark in Sasuke-kun’s neck. Didn’t he put you inside of Sasuke-kun as well?”
Danny wipes down the wound again. Five stitches now. One more should do it… Danny doesn’t really know how to answer her question though. “… Well… the timing is uncanny at least.” He says as he pushes the needle in one more time. It’s only then that Danny earns a harsh reminder reminder of the malice, as his frustration suddenly melds with it in a bout of irrational anger.
Danny’s hand twitches in surprise, causing a peep of sorts to escape from Sakura as he jostles the needle. “Sorry-” he says through nearly-clenched teeth as he makes an effort to rein in his emotions.
Sakura keeps quiet once more.
Danny notes that she’s been an exemplary patient as far as he’s concerned. He ties off his handiwork, unthreads the needle, and cuts off the remainder of his thread.
“So it’s not normal then- for kids to attack one another in the forest?” he asks, just to make sure.
Sakura seems a little surprised. “Oh, no! Fighting is very much expected of us. The second stage of the exam is generally considered to be the deadliest part of the exam, since there’s little to no proctors around to halt the violence when it gets bad.”
“… What …???” Danny asks her, suddenly finding himself searching her face for any kind of joke or deception. ‘Deadliest’?? Surely she’s kidding, right?
“But-! It’s by no means necessary to kill! Most genin only want to pass the exam, so… They’re perfectly content to leave others alone if they give up their scroll!” she add hastily, by what Danny interprets as a poor attempt to make it all sound acceptable.
Luckily the malice remains at bay while Danny’s thoughts remain on the side of baffled moreso than angry.
“What’s a genin, even?” he ends up asking, as his brain can’t catch onto anything more coherent right now. The question apparently has Sakura turning a little bug-eyed once again.
“Uh- umm…” is all she produces before looking down, seemingly unsure how to even start explaining.
Danny just sighs and turns to take some more gauze from Sakura’s medical kit. “You don’t need to explain it to me if it’s too much work…” he says as he takes to cutting out a sizable piece, and then proceeds to tape it to her leg. He only uses a little, since he intends to wrap it up anyway. Wounds like this do better with a little pressure.
“It’s fine. Um… Do you know what a shinobi is, Phantom-san…?” Sakura asks after a moment.
Danny sends her a quick look as he starts positioning her unpackaged roll of bandages from earlier. “Shinobi as in like… ninja?” he asks.
“Yes!” Sakura confirms eagerly. “Shinobi that pass the academy are generally known as ‘genin’. This exam determines which genin may be fit to be promoted to chuunin!”
It’s kind of boggling Danny’s mind. They let these kids kill one another over this? From the way Sakura talks about it, it doesn’t even sound like there’s any consequences involved. Wait… they’re ninja…??? This world is getting weirder and weirder fast.
At least Tucker would probably get a kick out of it once Danny told him.
Danny gingerly finishes wrapping up Sakura’s leg, only to fumble a little bit when he finally pins it all in place. “That should do it,” he concludes, before giving the rest of Sakura a once-over. “Anything else I should take a look at?”
It turns out her arm has a nasty gash as well, although this one isn’t as long as the one on her leg. Likely a stab wound, Danny surmises. It could still use a stitch or two though, and while Sakura clearly doesn’t like getting more stitches, there’s no hesitation when she offers her arm to him.
This time around the small talk is a little more small talk. Danny assumes none of them had gotten stitches before, but Sakura tells him that she did get some in the academy once. It’s just that none of them had had to do it themselves yet. Apparently ‘Naruto’ has gotten stitches on a whole host of occasions. She even manages to make Danny laugh when she tells him that he’d stabbed his own hand once for poisoning reasons. (Danny has heard them call Orange ‘Naruto’ before, but it’s only now that he makes a point of remembering.)(How could he not with an anecdote like that? What a legend.)
When he’s finished Danny makes sure to tell Sakura of what an exemplary patient he found her to be, because clearly this girl wasn’t getting enough credit for her bravery. He pretends not to see the colour arising on Sakura’s cheeks as she quickly turns away in embarrassment. She’s smiling though.
It also turns out that Danny has used most of the supplies Sakura had brought in the first place. He lectures her on the necessity of refreshing her bandages, which earns him a somewhat angry pout. (“Don’t patronize us, Phantom-san. We’ve been taught that much.”)
Luckily she can still nab some stuff from her friends later.
And with that Danny supposes comes an end to his little stint of ‘freedom’. He releases a somewhat beleaguered sigh. It takes some resolve-building to prepare himself to go back into hiding. The urge to stay arises strongly. A darker part of Danny has him actually considering it, but he firmly disregards it, if only to oppose the malice that urges him on. So instead Danny takes a deep breath and bids Sakura farewell for now.
“Hopefully the next time we speak it won’t be through Saskay,” he says a bit wryly.
Sakura momentarily seems to suppress a laugh at something, but she’s quick to school her expression into something appropriately solemn, but optimistic. “I hope so too, Phantom-san,” she tells him. She sounds remarkably sincere. Danny smiles.
And then he replaces the barrier, thinking it best to just get his departure over with.
Saskay once again wakes with some sputtering and gasping, Sakura’s hand is on his bicep once again in an awkward attempt to stabilize him. The moment he regains his bearings he also sends his eyes looking over Sakura, seemingly examining her to make sure that he didn’t make some terrible kind of mistake. Danny’s fairly neat handiwork seems to put him at ease somewhat.
“Welcome back, Sasuke-kun.” Sakura says happily.
