A/N: Just a cute little idea I had. Anyway you know the drill, I don't own Danny Phantom or Tak and the power of juju. They are both products of Nickelodeon.

…...

Innocence

"My hair isn't food you know." Danny muttered, though he wasn't particularly bothered by the rhino chewing on the split ends. It was better than being harassed by the villagers. Ever since he defeated Vlad and saved the moon Juju, the villagers wanted him to do everything. It'd gotten so bad that he had to resort to hiding out in Dryrock Canyon just to get some alone time. It even made him long for the time he was just Clockwork's errand boy and everyone ignored him...

"Danny," and nobody looked for him when he made it clear he wanted to be left alone. "Danny, I know you're here. Clockwork wants to see you!"

Danny groaned, "ugh. On my way, Dash!"

"Danny!"

"I said I'm..."

"DANNY!" This time Dash's yelling was accompanied by a annoyingly loud chittering sound: Nerbils. Danny cursed under his breath and stood up from his hiding spot behind the summoning shrine. Dash was helpless against Nerbils, you'd think differently because of his size, but the little pests tend to attack in pacts of ten or more so...

Danny hoisted himself up the cliffs to the path of the sun temple. Dash was one cliff higher, with the dead magic Nubu plant. A swarm of at least seven Nerbils had him pinned to the dusty ground. "DANNY!" Dash squealed again. (Yes, big macho man Dash Baxter squealed. Though he would definitely deny it if he were confronted.)

Danny rolled his eyes. Dash really was pathetic. Danny grabbed the spirit rattle from his holster and began raffling though the juju talismans in his leg pouch until he found the one he was looking for: Conversion. One of his personal favorites. Who wouldn't want to turn a Nerbil into a chicken?

"Damn it, Danny. Get this flesh eating monstrosities off of me!"

"That's funny," Danny deadpanned. "I didn't know chickens were flesh eaters."

"Wha...?" Dash opened his eye and saw that indeed he was no longer being bitten and scratched to death by little bat-like monsters. Instead he had a bunch of chickens scratching on his chest and one was attempting to nest in his hair. "Shoo, shoo, stupid birds."

Danny snickered," I don't want to hear a word about this Danny." Dash growled as he stood up.

"I wasn't gonna say anything." Danny snickered again, a little louder this time.

"And no laughing either."

"Sorry, can't promise you that." Danny began laughing in earnest.

"Damn it Fenton, it's not funny!"

"It's always funny when you're involved, Dash."

Dash scoffed. "Yeah right, whatevAH! Nubu plant!"

Danny looked and sure enough, there was a Nubu plant, freshly sprouted. Although, something was...off. The plant wasn't hissing or snapping at them as the plant species was known to do whenever there was prey around. In fact it was quivering, as if it were afraid. It was also the smallest Nubu plant Danny had ever seen, even for a sprout. Usually, freshly sprouted Nubu plants were tall enough to reach his knee, adolescent Nubu plants were about waist height, and fully grown magical Nubu plants were exactly the same height as he was. This one though, it barely reached the midpoint of his calf.

"What are you Doing Fenton?"

"Shut up Dash."

Danny inspected the plant a bit closer. The nubu plants quivering was more noticeable now that he had gotten a better look and he could finally see why. It had no teeth! And out here in Dryrock Cayon, where there was no grass or weeds to camouflage the little thing, having no teeth was a death sentence.

"Seriously Danny, what are you doing?" Dash asked again, his voice wavering a little bit, but at least he wasn't freaking out anymore.

"I'm taking it back to amity with me."

"What?! You can't be serious Danny. You know how dangerous those things are."

"They're only dangerous from adolescence to adulthood." Danny replied sharply. "Sprouts like this one are just a nuisance." Danny would know, since he'd been bitten by them more times than he could count. The bites didn't even hurt that much. It just felt like walking through a field of thistles.

"Danny..."

"It'll be fine Dash. Look, it doesn't even have any teeth."

"If it doesn't have any teeth then why are you taking it?"

"I'm taking it because it doesn't have teeth." Danny snapped, "without teeth, it won't be able to catch prey or protect itself from predators."

"I don't think Clockwork will approve of you keeping that thing."

"Says you, Clockwork won't care." Danny had an idea. "In fact, I think he'll be happy to have a reliable source of Nubu flowers around."

"Huh?"

"I'm pretty sure if I take care of this little guy now, he'll be a little more docile when he reaches adulthood."

Dash was confused, "Which means?..."

"Which means when Clockwork needs a Nubu flower for a spell, he'll have a domesticated Nubu plant within reach and I won't have to hunt down a bunch of them just for a few flowers." Adult Nubu plants were rare enough now-a-days from people trying their best to kill the sprouts whenever they bloom. And whenever Clockwork needed one of the flowers Danny had to travel miles to find a feral one to kill and once they died they would no longer produce flowers. Which was why it was better to get the flower while it was still alive. The flowers grew back then.

"Yeah, sure. Just grab the stupid plant and let's get out of here. I hate Dryrock Canyon."

Danny nodded only half listening to Dash's complaining, while he focused on digging out the plant without tools and without severing its roots (Nubu plants could feel pain unlike other plant species). "So what d'ya say, little guy," Danny said to the no longer quivering plant. Do you want to come home with me?"

The plant purred.

…...

This story is sorta inspired by a little head-canon I have about the Nubu plants in the Tak and the power of juju video game. I've just always thought that those small green plants that sprout up everywhere you go are actually little baby Nubu plants and the bigger ones found on mountaintop are adolescent Nubu plants. Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading this.