Preface
The kunoichi's eyes flickered as a swath of clouds slid gently over the moon, painting splotches of shadows across the midnight New York streets. She crouched behind a metal satellite dish atop of a relatively low building her eyes wide and alert. Even in this deep contemplative moment she never ceased to scan for the danger that could strike at any moment possibly ending her life. No place was ever completely safe, not even her own home.
She shifted slightly to the right when her intense gaze determined that nothing dangerous currently lurked in the calm semi-darkness. It was only on nights like these that she could ever find even a sliver of peace away from all of the hustle and bustle of life: the errands, the missions, the ever present piercing gaze of her father.
She allowed herself to heave a small sigh and ran a raw hand through her hair. She cringed with pain and proceeded to massage it. Earlier that day she and the Foot soldiers had gotten into a skirmish on the edge of the city with a rival clan that had suddenly decided to make the journey all the way from her home country of Japan for the sole reason of stealing some fancy old weapon her father had stolen long ago. As always when she was alone, she tasted the taboo word in her mouth, "Stolen". She contemplated the importance of the negative connotation associated with that word, and words like it, in regards to her life. In specific, the life that her father, Shredder, had chosen for her.
She lifted her face up to the sky and pestered the moon for answers. Why is my life like this? Do I have any say? Does my loyalty to my family and clan outweigh my yearning for a different life? She swallowed hard and cast her gaze to stare at her red hands. "And is there anyway I can change things for the better?" She asked in a soft whisper. As usual, the moon glared down at her, keeping an icy distance. She chuckled grimly to herself then shook her head, as she always did when she was getting off "track", to clear it. Feeling the pressure to get back to her lair before she was missed, she stood up and straightening her back and leaped off of the building gracefully before heading across the rooftops toward home.