Throne of the Ghost Emperor (Danny Phantom X Naruto)
Chapter 64 - 12

Chapter 64 - 12

Chapter 12: "Ninjas, Neck Kisses, and the Art of Not Exploding in Public"

From Danny's Point of View – now 12% cooler, according to unverified internal estimates.

Danny's body was dead. Not like ghost dead, but the kind of dead where your muscles cry softly for mercy and every step feels like you've aged a thousand years.

So Naruto—being Naruto—took over.

After all, what were centuries of ninja training and literal spiritual enlightenment for, if not hijacking a teenager's body when it was too tired to function?

He'd already dragged the body back from the park, hit the shower (thank you modern plumbing), and changed into something that didn't smell like defeat and squirrel terror. Now he descended the stairs of the Fenton household with the casual grace of someone not experiencing muscle failure.

The kitchen smelled like warm heaven. Eggs, toast, sizzling bacon—probably the kind of meal warriors dreamed about after battle. Sitting at the table were the usual suspects:

Maddie Fenton, beautiful, brilliant, and currently sipping coffee like she hadn't built a bazooka that could vaporize ghosts with a sneeze.

Jack Fenton, human tank, tactical chaos engine, wearing a bright orange apron over what looked suspiciously like pajama pants. Possibly his only outfit.

Jazz Fenton, stoic queen of the teenage intellects, nose deep in a 600-page monstrosity titled "Post-Mortem Psychic Residue: A Multidimensional Analysis."

Naruto, perfectly impersonating Danny—except, you know, with functioning posture and slightly better chakra alignment—walked into the kitchen with a grin.

Maddie looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Danny! I saw you coming back from your jog earlier. I'm proud of you."

Jog. Right. Naruto had parkoured through the park like a ninja on espresso, but sure. "Jog."

Jack thumped his massive fist on the table, making the salt shaker jump. "That's my boy! You keep that up and you'll be punching through ghosts in no time! Want me to build you some training gauntlets? Or a punching dummy filled with ectoplasm? Or an ectoplasmic punching gauntlet with dummies inside?!"

Naruto chuckled, easing into the seat with the confidence of a man who once wrestled a tailed beast for fun. "I'll let you know, Dad. Maybe next week."

Jazz didn't look up from her book, but her eyebrows did lift half a centimeter. In Jazz-speak, that was the equivalent of a standing ovation.

Then came the food.

Naruto started piling it onto his plate like he'd been possessed by a sumo wrestler. Eggs. Toast. Six pieces of bacon. Pancakes. Fruit. Another pancake. Butter. Three slices of honey-drizzled toast. If it was edible, it was on his plate—and some of it was on other people's plates.

He started devouring it like a starving anime protagonist. You know, the kind with sparkles and zoom lines around their face. The sound effects might as well have been included.

Everyone stopped eating to watch him. Even Jazz blinked.

"...What are you doing?" Maddie asked carefully, her "concerned mom" voice starting to creep in.

Naruto wiped his mouth and grinned, "Relax, Mom. I'm just really hungry. Look—totally fine! Full of life!" He gestured to Danny's body as if that explained anything.

Jack stood so fast his chair screeched across the tile. "THIS IS THE WORK OF AN ENEMY GHOST! TO THE BAT CAVE!"

He bolted upstairs, apron flapping like a heroic cape. Jazz muttered, "We don't have a bat cave..." but nobody stopped him.

Naruto kept eating. Jazz kept staring.

"I never thought I'd see something like this in real life," she murmured. "This feels like watching one of those alien possession documentaries."

Naruto, between gulps of orange juice, gave her a finger gun and a wink. "I'm just motivated. You know... embracing the grind."

Jazz narrowed her eyes. "You never say 'embracing the grind.' You complain when the TV remote is more than five feet away."

He shrugged. "New me?"

"Suspicious," she said, eyes narrowing further, but she turned back to her book like a shark circling for later.

Naruto didn't mind. His job wasn't to hide everything—just enough. Too much mystery, and people got paranoid. Too much truth, and you got locked in a lab. Balance.

As Danny's body processed the food, Naruto began directing the energy where it was most needed: rebuilding muscle tissue, restoring depleted reserves, speeding recovery.

Not bad for Earth food. But he missed the chakra-rich beasts back home. Roast chakra ox? Divine. Sweet-and-sour shadow stag? Unmatched.

Still, this would do. For now.

Upstairs, Jack returned triumphantly wearing half a jumpsuit, goggles, and a flamethrower.

"I'm ready!"

Jazz didn't even blink. "He just had a big breakfast."

Jack paused. "So... no ghost possession?"

Jazz flipped a page. "Not yet."

Naruto gave them both a bright, totally-innocent smile.

"Pass the syrup?"

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The breakfast chaos had just begun to settle when Naruto (in Danny's skin, spirit, and stomach) leaned back in his chair with a theatrical sigh, the kind only achievable after consuming three breakfasts and a possibly-illegal amount of syrup.

"Well, reality is often stranger than fiction, Jazz," he said with a wink. "And you know what? Speaking of strange—how's your love life? Need help landing a boyfriend?"

Jazz didn't even flinch. Her eyebrow rose so slowly it could have shattered steel. "Dan, I will slap you."

Naruto—bless his reckless heart—grinned wider. "Chill, sis. I'm serious. I love you so much that if we weren't siblings, I'd take your hand in a heartbeat. Those guys out there? Total idiots. Blind as bats."

Jazz folded her arms, and her book closed with a dramatic snap. "Flattery doesn't work on me. Especially not when it's creepy and possibly illegal. And you, mister breakfast goblin, are in no position to play matchmaker—you're as single as a ghost on prom night."

He clicked his tongue, shooting finger guns across the table like a man with absolutely no shame. "Unfortunately for you, I've got flowers in both hands."

"Sam," Jazz and Maddie chorused like a well-rehearsed sitcom gag.

"Not exactly hard mode," Jazz shot back, unbothered. "Try someone who isn't already halfway in love with you and get that to work. Then maybe I'll take you seriously."

Naruto leaned forward, eyes sparkling with mock intensity. "You're letting your pride get in the way of education, Jazz. And as your loving younger brother and totally unlicensed dating guru, I hereby offer you a once-in-a-lifetime deal." He paused for effect. "Let me date you."

Jazz choked on her orange juice. Maddie calmly turned a page of the newspaper like this was just a Tuesday.

"I'm sorry," Jazz said, dabbing at her mouth. "Did you just suggest—"

"Fake date," Naruto clarified with the gravitas of a man announcing a peace treaty. "For a week. I'll show you the art of male psychology. How to read them, how to deal with them, how to break them down to emotional jelly. You'll be unstoppable."

Jazz gave him a long, measured stare—the kind of stare usually reserved for haunted dolls and unmarked ghost portals. "You're betraying your kind."

Naruto placed a hand over his chest, eyes twinkling. "I was never one of them."

Jazz sighed like someone who'd accidentally opened Pandora's Box and then decided to keep it as a footrest. "Fine. You pull this off, and I'll buy you a PS3."

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Throw in a second controller, and you've got a deal."

"Don't push your luck, Casanova."

"Deal. We start tomorrow. Today's busy."

Jazz stood slowly, her book tucked under one arm, but her expression lingered in the realm of confused suspicion. Naruto (or "Danny") had been a walking poster child for awkward teen syndrome just yesterday. Now he was flirting like he had a PhD in sass and a minor in boldness.

She grabbed her bag and paused at the doorway. "Take care at school, Danny," she said, her voice laced with dry amusement. "Try not to get bullied."

Naruto gave her a salute with a toast triangle. "I'll try not to obliterate anyone with charm."

As Jazz walked out the door, she could feel the grin still lingering on her brother's face. Or... whoever was in there now.

Something was definitely up.

--------------------------------

Okay. So picture this.

You're sitting at your kitchen table, casually chewing on a piece of bacon like a normal teenager who didn't just get possessed by a dead shinobi super-ghost-slash-ninja-warrior.

Your sister is walking out the door, muttering something about "emotional manipulation" and "PS3s" under her breath. Your dad is yelling from the basement about ectoplasmic interference in the waffle iron. Your mom is sipping coffee and smiling like this morning is completely normal.

And you? You just came back into your body after Naruto borrowed it without asking—and somehow left it stronger than he found it.

Yeah. Welcome to my life.

One second I was floating in the corner of my own brain like a sleepy little ghost blob, and the next—bam! I'm back in the driver's seat.

My eyes blinked open, my hands still wrapped around a now-empty plate (seriously, how much did he eat?). I shifted in my chair—and that's when I noticed it.

The soreness? Gone. Completely. Like I'd never sprinted a marathon through a park while being harassed by ghost squirrels.

But more than that... I felt good. Like, weirdly good. My body didn't just feel healed—it felt stronger. My spine was straighter. My arms felt more solid. My posture was actually decent, which, for a teenage boy, is basically a miracle on par with walking on water.

I looked down at my hands, then flexed them under the table just to check.

Nope. Still mine. Just... better?

"Okay," I muttered under my breath, "what the heck?"

That's when I heard the voice. In my head. Like a smug little fox with opinions.

"You're welcome."

Naruto. Of course.

I leaned back in my chair and casually rubbed the back of my neck, hoping my parents wouldn't notice that their son was currently having a telepathic conversation with a paranormal ninja. You know. As one does.

"Hey," I said mentally, "what was all that about? You flirting with Jazz like you were trying to win an anime harem?"

Naruto gave me a mental chuckle, like the world's most laid-back roommate who had just raided my fridge and then complimented my sister's eyes.

"Relax. That was bonding with your sibling. You know—helping out your family with the things they're weak at but secretly desire. It's part of being a good brother."

"A good brother doesn't fake date his sister."

"She agreed, didn't she?"

Okay. Technically yes. But only because she was more curious than cautious and because I'm pretty sure she's two days away from writing her own psychology thesis on me.

I sighed and stabbed a leftover grape off my plate.

"Next time, maybe ask before you turn me into a walking dating sim protagonist."

"Noted," he said, in a tone that absolutely meant "I will absolutely not be noting this."

Maddie gave me a look from across the table. "Everything alright, sweetie?"

"Yup! All good!" I said quickly, forcing a smile. "Just... uh... thinking about the mitochondria. You know. Powerhouse of the cell. Love that guy."

She raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced, but went back to her coffee. Crisis barely averted.

Inside, Naruto snickered.

"You're welcome for the muscle upgrades, by the way. I cleaned out the spiritual gunk in your shoulders. You were walking like a haunted shrimp."

That made me blink.

"Wait—so all that soreness yesterday—"

"Muscles growing. You're adapting. It'll get easier."

Well, okay. I had asked him to train me. I just didn't expect it to be the kind of training that made squirrels scream and Jazz threaten violence over toast.

Still... I rolled my shoulder and, yeah, it did feel pretty awesome.

I stood up, grabbed my backpack, and slung it over one shoulder like some kind of anime protagonist heading to a dramatic high school arc. The weight felt lighter. I felt lighter.

Stronger.

Weirder.

But... better?

As I walked to the door, I glanced back at the kitchen.

Jack was now wearing goggles and stuffing waffles into a device labeled "GHOST-TOAST 9000."

Mom was measuring ectoplasm on the table with a butter knife.

Jazz had left behind her book titled "Spectral Influence and Unconscious Bias."

---------------------------

When I stepped outside that morning, I was not expecting to feel like a main character in a teen romance drama directed by a ninja ghost mentor.

But, you know, life's full of surprises. Especially when your soul's been sharing bunk beds with a blonde chakra gremlin who believes "flirting" and "tactical warfare" are the same skillset.

I barely got three steps down the porch before I spotted her.

Sam.

Standing right there at the front gate of my house, dressed in her usual goth-chic outfit, fingers fidgeting with the straps of her bag like she was debating whether to storm the castle or run away from it.

Her face was uncharacteristically unsure. For a girl who usually walked like she owned the world (and maybe had plans to burn it down if it didn't recycle properly), this was... new.

And apparently, my cue.

"Go," Naruto murmured in the back of my mind. "You've got this. Trust the instinct."

Right. Instinct. The thing that usually made me trip over my own feet or say things like "hey-I-like-your-hair-what's-it-made-of."

But this time... I didn't hesitate.

I walked right up to her. Slipped my arms around her waist like it was the most natural thing in the world. She jolted in surprise—honestly, so did I a little—but I didn't let it show.

"Hey there, beautiful," I said, in a tone that would've made my past self explode from secondhand embarrassment.

Sam froze for a millisecond. Her breath hitched. Then I leaned in, letting the soft scent of her lavender shampoo hit me right before I pressed a light kiss to the curve of her neck.

She shivered.

Like, a full-on actual shiver.

Which... okay, not gonna lie, was really satisfying.

"Hya—" she squeaked, her voice cracking in that adorable way she always pretended never happened. But she didn't pull away. Instead, she leaned back against me, relaxing into the hug.

"I feel the same," she murmured, so soft I almost thought I imagined it. "I couldn't wait to see you."

I smiled, feeling like I'd just unlocked a secret level in the game of life.

I spun her gently around so we were face to face. Her eyes found mine, and there it was—that glimmer of challenge, that spark of mischief. She wasn't just happy to see me; she was daring me to keep up.

Which, thanks to Naruto, I might actually be able to do now.

"Of course you couldn't," I teased. "Our chemistry is too strong to ignore. Like Mentos and soda. But hotter."

She groaned, but the blush on her cheeks betrayed her. "You're lucky I like you, dork."

"Only slightly lucky," I replied, winking. "Did you sleep well?"

Her smirk returned, slow and knowing. "A good dream."

Oh boy.

We kissed—soft, electric, and short enough to be legal in front of my neighbors. I wasn't even thinking anymore. Everything just felt right.

Then Sam broke away, that twinkle in her eye now dialed up to full sparkle mode.

"We'd better get going, Romeo," she said. "Or we're going to be late for school."

I grabbed her hand. "Right behind you, Juliet. Lead the way."

As we started walking toward school, hand in hand like a scene from some painfully ideal YA novel, I could practically hear Naruto grinning from the void.

"That... was smooth."

I didn't even answer. I just smiled.

For once, I wasn't stumbling through the morning like a zombie. I wasn't overthinking every word or worrying about what she thought of me. I was just... in the moment. With her.

And even though ghosts, school, and maybe a few emotionally unstable lunchladies were still waiting to ruin my day...

Right now?

I felt unstoppable.