I do not own the TMNT.

Just a little warning for those who are starting to read this story first. This is the second part to my three part saga. The first part is called "Lost" and "The Finding" will not make a lot of sense if you don't read "Lost" first.

Quick recap:

We ended with Leo, Donnie, and Raph traveling to Japan on a fishing boat. They are trying to find Mikey and bring him home. So on with the story!

I expect to have as many reviews for "The Finding" as I did for "Lost" so get cracking. LOL!

Just kidding, but do let me know what you think

TTFN

The Finding

Chapter 1

At first I had been excited when I landed in Nagano. The city rushed and clanged around me and there were so many new sites and sounds to see and hear. As the day went on I began to feel more and more overwhelmed. Everything was so different. I knew Japan would be different from New York, but never like this. I no longer fit in as "just a regular human" now. I stood out like a sore thumb with my western looks and emerald hair. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I was scared and missing my family and April terribly. I wanted to go home!

"Stop this Michelangelo!" I told myself firmly, "If you go home then all the people you love will be endangered. You are here for a reason."

"You are here because your family doesn't love you anymore," a voice said in the back of my head, "You drove them all away with your showing off. Didn't you?"

I choose to ignore the voice since it hurt too much to think about at the moment and decided to prepare for my journey. I was never so grateful that Sensei had insisted that my brothers and I learn to speak fluently in Japanese as when I had to ask for directions. I used the last bit of money left on April's credit card to buy me some clothes that would help me blend in better and a hat that I could stuff my hair up in. Looking in the store mirror I realized that I now looked like a street urchin and wouldn't bring a lot of attention to myself as long as nobody looked really close.

I had come to Japan to find Sensei's old friend who is a lore master. His name is Makota and Splinter had thought that perhaps he would know of the Jinchuu and if there were any descendants of such a clan. If I could locate Makota, or any other lore master, and one of them knew of the Jinchuu then maybe I could find someway to defeat Katsuro. The man had destroyed my life and I was tired of him hunting me. I just wanted to be left alone.

I was able to find out that a Master Makota lived in a small valley just outside of Yamaguchi in the Chugoku region of Japan. The Chugoku region was south of Nagano and would take me a long time to travel to since I would have to walk now that I no longer had any money. I was glad that I had only brought a backpack and sleeping bag worth of stuff with me. Excitedly I set out on my trip with the hope of finding the answer to gaining some peace in my life. Though my heart felt sore, the beauty of Japan was incredible and I began to realize why Sensei was so fond of this country. It was lovely.

I walked and hitched rides for days and days and thanked God that I had arrived for the warmer season of Japan since I usually had to sleep outside unless people, out of the kindness of their hearts, gave me shelter. I also had to rely on others' kindness for food and rationed myself carefully. After a couple of weeks, my feet were sore, my tummy rumbled, and the excitement had worn off. I had located a few lore masters on my trip thus far and none were able to give me any useful information on the Jinchuu. Furthermore, I couldn't help feeling uneasy as if someone or something was stalking me from afar.

"Can this get any worse?" I asked myself one miserable day.

CRASH! RUUMBLE!

I had to ask. Rain! It had to rain. I could have kicked myself for asking that question. How often had I seen people in movies and shows ask that question and get hit with something unpleasant. Luckily, a local farmer had promised to give me some dinner in exchange for helping him change a flat tire and had given me permission to spend the night in his barn to wait out the storm.

I prepared my pallet in a clean, dry stall filled with hay when a feeling of being watched came over me suddenly. Stealthily I slid out my nunchucks and tensed ready to defend myself.

"Could Katsuro have followed me to Japan?" I fearfully thought.

KLUNK!

Yelling a challenge cry, I expertly spun around to block my enemy's attack when I stopped, shocked. The noise had not been admitted by Katsura or some other enemy, the noise had been the sound of a small, gray kitten jumping onto an overturned bucket to stare at me.

"Mew?"

"Hello kitty," I said smiling with relief, "You must belong to the farmer."

"No. The cat is not mine," the farmer said as he entered the barn with a tray of food, "It is one of the wild cats who live out in the field. Here is your dinner child."

"Domo," I said as the farmer left me alone with the kitten, "Are you hungry kitty?"

I prepared a little bit of food for the kitten and then sat down to eat my dinner. The kitten ate his meal and then came to sit by my feet as I finished mine.

"You're a friendly kitty aren't you?" I said chuckling bending down to rub the tiny kit's back, "I think you like me. What should I call you? I can't keep calling you 'kitty.'"

The kitten's only response was to purr and hop onto my lap. I checked and discovered the kitten to be a little boy.

"What is a good name for a boy?" I said as the kitten leapt down from my lap indignantly and once again landed on the overturned bucket.

KLUNK!

"I think I'll call you Klunk," I said laughing, "You seem to like making that noise."

"Meow," the kitten said in response before pouncing on a piece of hay.

The rest of the evening I played with little Klunk and felt happier than I had for a long time. By morning my heart was lost. Klunk was officially my traveling companion and had seemed to bring me luck. The farmer hooked me up with a ride to Yamaguchi with a friend who was heading in that direction. Maybe my luck was finally turning around?

To be continued.

Japanese to English translation:

Domo-Thank you

In textbooks, the Japanese word for "thank you" is explained as "Arigato." (It's polite form being "Arigato gozaimasu.") However, "domo" is the most common expression for "thank you."

"Arigato" can be used only among friends. It will be rude if you say "Arigato" to a person older than you. "Arigato gozaimasu" is polite, but it may sound a little too polite. If you say "Arigato gozaimasu" each time, people may look on you as humbling yourself too much.

"Domo" is a convenient word. It can be said to whomever you want to thank while showing the proper amount of respect at the same time.