FREAKIN PLOT BUNNIES! I CAN"T GET ANYTHING DONE!
Ok, so set in the 2012 universe. What if Karai was never exposed to the mutugen.
Kari arched a brow and removed her face mask. "Woah. Guys, check this out." She pointed down to the street.
Leo and Donnie both came over first to see what she was looking at. A single fighter was standing against at least 25 foot bots. The fighter was thin and using only one blade. The fight seemed a one sided in favor of the fighter. He would slice, stab, and flip over the bots to get the ones on the outer edge and keep them moving.
A lucky bot got a punch in and knocked him back against the industrial brick building, landing on his hands and knees.
"Lets go." Leo announced, drawing his dual katana and leapt from the top of the building and onto a foot bot.
"boyeacahaing" Mickey screamed as they fell from the six floor rooftop onto the dog pile of foot bots.
Leo hacked and slashed his way to the single fighter who was using the wall to stand. He offered a hand to help him stand. "Are you alright."
The fighters long, dark hair was frazzled and covered half of their face. From what he could see, it was a Asian female. She had a swollen eye, bruises, and a busted lip. She pushed him off and jumped aside as a bot took the opportunity and punched the wall instead. The female fighter couldn't catch herself and rolled along the sidewalk. She stood again but lost the balance to keep fighting effectively.
It didn't take long for the five teens to smash through the few robots. They all turned to see what the cause of the commotion was.
The fighter was barely standing on her own but had three throwing stars held in her hand ready to fly at them. The team stood ready to deflect when her knees gave out and she fell to the ground.
Donnie pointed at her. "Look at her arm." The female turned her eyes to the purple turtle finding a new target. "I think it's broken." The group looked at how her right arm was dangling on the ground useless. With a glup, Don walked past his brothers and kneeled down before her. He pulled some gauze from his shell and showed her. "Let us help you."
Donatello could see her breathing was deeper than it should have been. She started to sway before her eyes rolled back and she collapsed. Donnie caught her before she hit the ground. With a confused look on his face, the turned to Leo. "Now what?"
"Now we ditch her and go home." Raph said while popping his neck.
Kari took a step towards the sleeping woman to look at the stars while Leo yelled at his younger brother's callousness. Her eyes grew wide. "Guys." Kari announced. "We're taking her to the lair." She turned the star to they all could see the cherry blossom that was imprinted on the star.
Leo blinked. "She's Inga?"
Mikey took an excited gasp. "She's Sensei's family. Dude, what if it's his sister? Or a cousin? Or an aunt! I bet she has awesome stories."
Raph smacked him in the back of the head. "Yea, like the one where she's Kari's replacement in the Foot and this was all an elaborate scheme to lead them to the lair."
"Even if it is," Leo knelt down to pick up the unconscious woman in his arms, "She's a target here. We have to move her someplace safe. And I can't think of anywhere safer."
Leo held the woman past the turn style and had Mikey fetch Master Splinter. Leo laid her on the couch and allowed Donnie to splint her arm.
Mikey ran through the dojo and into Master Splinters room. "Sensei, Sensei, you're not going to believe this."
Splinter arched a brow when he was pulled from deep meditation from his youngest and oddly happy son. "What will I not believe?"
"So like, we're on patrol right, and Kari was all like 'guys, you should totally come check this out,' and there was this dude, well, dudette, and she was all like 'wahhh' and 'kataa' and we were all like 'whaa?' Anyways, after I saved the day, she like, passes out. Donnie thinks it's from exhaustion, but-"
"Michalengo." Splinter warned, "what is the point?"
"I was getting there. She had this." Mikey passed him the throwing star with the cherry blossom symbol. "She's like, your family, right?"
Splinter stood slowly, using his walking stick for support. "Perhaps. But Michalengo, family is not always made up of blood bonds, sometimes it is the bonds of blood that makes a family. Do you understand?"
"Not really, Sensei."
The rat gave a sigh. "Show me."
"There." Donnie announced, "that should help until I can reset the bones in her arm." He pulled out a pen light and opened her eyes to check her dilatation. Both eyes opened instantly, causing the four teens to take a step back.
"Get away." She demanded in Japanese. The boys looked confused. "Where am I?" she asked again in Japanese. "Who are you, why have you brought me here?"
Kari held up her hands. "You're safe here." She said in Japanese.
The woman arched a brow. "Consoldance from a child is hardly worth anything." She scathed. "I'm looking for Hamato Yoshi. I was told he is here in New York."
The room instantly stiffened. "Why?" Raph barked.
"Where is he?" she addressed the red one.
Raph crossed his arms. "What do'ya want with him?"
The woman watched the purple one and saw where his eyes went. She looked over her shoulder and saw the orange turtle standing behind a giant rat wearing the symbols of the Inga clan.
The rat looked surprised. "Mitizuki?"
The woman stood on her own, pushing off the assistance of the others, and walked towards him, swaying slightly at the exhausting in her legs. "Hamato Yoshi?"
He gave a slight bow. "Izowa Mitizuki."
She returned his bow. She tried to be more graceful as she bent into a kneel, but fell to her knees from the exhaustion and pulled the sword and sheath from her back and presented it to him with both hands. Her head was bowed as she said, "The clan has fallen."
Splinter took a slight step away from her. "That is impossible."
"Lord Master Hamato Dakaru ordered me to find you and inform you: You are the last living heir of the Homoto Kazukane line. You" she grunted at the pain in her arm. "You are the new Lord Master of the Inga Clan."
Splinter seemed confused, but when he looked at his sons, he saw their confusion and grief. With a cooling breath, Master Splinter took hold of the sword she offered and removed it from the sheath to verify it was the sword of succession. He looked at the Japanese scripture that was stamped into the steel. With a heavy heart, he replaced it back into the sheath.
Mitizuki dropped her hands to the ground and forced herself to take the deep bowing position. "Lord Master." Splinter looked down at her. She was obviously in pain, but still clung to the honorable traditions. "My last orders were to find you. With your permission, what are your orders of me?"
Splinter stroked his beard in deep thought. He knew perfectly well what she was saying: I have nowhere to go. "I will inform you in the morning."
"ho." Was her only response. The woman didn't move from the bow until Master Splinter had left the room. When the screen door from the dojo shut, her body went limp, and she fell over to one side.
Donnie was instantly at her side and called for Mikey to help him. "Lets take her to my lab. I can run some tests and make sure she's alright."
Leo looked at the screen door that Sensei just entered and felt sadness and guilt seep into his heart. He just lost everything. Again. Kari caught his attention. She was freakishly smiling.
Raph arched a brow. "That is the scarcest look."
Kari just looked at them. "That's Izowa Mitizuki." The boys exchanged a look then back to her. Kari rolled her eyes. "She's the most skilled and feared kunoichi in all of Japan. She's wanted by Interpol, the U.N. and Yakuza. No one has been able to track her in 10 years. This is awesome!"
Raph chuckled. "Wow. Kari has a hero."
"Right?! I heard she was originally a Samurai's daughter, but he was deemed a Ronin and cast out. He took her through the jungle for nine days until they came across a Ninja Clan high in the mountains. And everyday, she struggles with the bushido and ninjusu. I also heard one time-"
"Woah, that's enough fan girl." Raph interrupted.
Leo put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I know you're excited, but if she's as dangerous as you say, is it really a good idea to let her stay here?"
"We all gotta sleep sometime." Raph pointed out.
"Father will let her stay." Kari assured.
Raph arched a brow. "Oh yea, and you know this because-"
Kari arched one of her own brows and smirked. "I can be very persuasive."
April came down the next morning ready to begin her training. The boys were sitting around the television watching Saturday morning cartoons looking content while Kari was pouting. April leaned down to Donnie. "What's her deal?" April jutted her thumb at the direction of Kari.
"I don't want to talk about it." Kari responded with a hint of venom.
"Sensei shot down her request." Leo helped, his eyes never leaving the tv screen.
April gave a confused look. "What request?"
Donnie smiled. "For a new Sensei."
April gave a pained look. "Ow." She looked around the living area. "Is Sensei around?"
"He's in a meeting." Leo looked at her only to see a confused expression. "He's not to be disturbed?"
"With who?"
Mitzuki sat across from Lord Master Hamato. Both were sitting on the floor with a cup of tea in their hands and the kettle between them. The room was still and quiet. The faint voices of the television could be heard in the Dojo. Mitzuki took a loud sip. "Good tea." She brought the bottom of the cup to rest on the fingers that were trapped in the sling Donnie made.
"Thank you."
They both took a sip together. Mitizuki looked over the rim of her cup and saw he was doing the same. She instantly adverted her eyes and set the cup down. "May I ask?"
Splinter arched a brow and gave a polite smile. "You may." He said, setting the cup of tea down and folded his hands in his lap.
Mitizuki seemed at a loss for words for a moment. "How did it happen?" She finally asked, her eyes meeting his.
Splinter looked at his hands before starting the story. "I had just arrived to New York when I saw some men in the alley way. They were handling a container but I knew they were up to no good. I attacked them. The container broke and I turned into this. The turtles I purchased were mutated into human - turtles. I could not let them die, so I took them with me. I have been raising them as my sons ever since."
Mitizuki seemed to take it in but showed nothing on her face.
"May I ask what happened?"
Mitizuki nodded instantly and put her tea aside. With a sigh, she rubbed her temples. "I do not even know how to describe it. I have been going over it again and again, and it never made since. Not until I saw you." She met his gaze if only for a moment. "Were you still human, you would not believe me. But now." She tilted her head as if it said everything. "He attacked us at night. None of the guards saw him and the security cameras did not detect him. It was like he was the shadows. It was like he knew our weaknesses before he even saw us. By the time we realized what was happening, it was too late.
"The man attacked us with such strength, stealth that hasn't been seen in over a thousand years, and weapons that we had no idea how to defend against. He used laser guns that used both fire and ice.
"When I realized we were under attack, I went to Lord Master Daraku to protect him. He gave the sword to me and told me to find you in New York. I-" she paused as if ashamed. "I refused the order. I refused to leave my clansmen to die at the hands of this monster. I swore that I would kill him. But Master Dakaru would not allow me this. He said that if my place was with my clansmen, it was my place to find them. He told me to leave, and I did. But before I left, I got a look at the animal that buturched my family. A tiger. He stood on his hind legs, dressed as a human, and spoke Japanese.
"Master Dakaru drew his sword and slashed at him. I knew he was distracting the beast to give me time to escape. And I did."
April and Mikey were sitting outside the screen door. Upon hearing the description of the attacker, April whispered to the orange turtle, "Tiger Claw."
"Tiger Claw."
Mitizuki turned her head toward the sound then arched a knowing brow at the Sensei and continued. "I've spent the last few months living off of contacts I'd created. Purchasing information and a new identity. Of course, the problem with Ninja's is -"
"They are Ninja's." Master Splinter finished for her. He took a sip of his tea to hide the smirk.
"Precisely. One of them must have tipped of Oroku-san. I didn't even take two steps out of La Guardia before I was attacked. I fought with everything I had, but there was just too many of them. They kept trying to hold me, put me in vehicles. I think the Foot wants me alive."
Splinter tiled his head. "Why?"
She shook her head. "I do not know. Honestly, I was so fatigued from the flight, if your sons were not there to save me, I may be in his hands now instead of here with you. Enjoying your delicious tea." She gave a small smile while taking a sip.
Splinter smirked. "Your tricks will not work on me."
"It is quite good." She took another loud sip.
Splinter sat his tea down and gave a thoughtful sigh. "Deception is the Ninja's greatest ally. You have seen my sons. How do I know I can trust you? Not only with my life, but with theirs?"
Without hesitation, Mitizuki responded, "My heart has always belonged to the Inga. You took me in, raised me as your own. I have never betrayed the clan."
"You betrayed me."
She looked confused for a moment then sighed. "That was twenty years ago. You forget the times we were in, Master."
"I remember quite well."
"I remember you, engulfed in your own anger, accusing the Yakuza for the death of Master Hansi and Master Onizuka because you disgraced two of their lieutenant in a fit of rage."
Splinter gave her a hard look. "You betrayed us by joining them."
"I was under orders by Lord Master Kenoke, your father, to investigate the incident. Yes, I did join them. I was under cover for three years trying to figure out what caused it and to gather as much intelligence that I could on them." Splinter was not persuaded. "My work stopped the war before it even started."
There was a mutual, angered silence between the two.
"They tell me you dishonored my father when you found out I left." Splinter looked away in shame. "That you called him names in the fields. That you would taint his food." He met her gaze only to show no emotion. "I was told that he didn't fight back. That he took your angered words and let them go. That even though you continuously called him Ronin, he never fought you." Splinter finally looked away. "Is it true?"
Splinter lifted his tea cup and felt the warmth of the ceramic. "Yes."
Another silence fell over them. Allowing both of them a few needed breaths to clear the air that was a between them. "The past is in the past, Lord Master. If we keep looking behind us, we will never see the tree in front."
Splinter gave a small laugh. "That is a new one."
"It seemed fitting." Mitizuki poured him another cup of tea then one for herself. "I understand that you do not trust me. But sitting in here with you now, I know you are not the same fool you once were. Perhaps your" she looked at the screen door to see the faint shadows of two teenagers, "responsibility has aided you in this."
Splinter gave a small warming smile to himself before removing it to look at her. "If I do not allow to stay here, what will you do?"
Mitizuki gave a small smile and shrugged. "I am not about to peddle fish in Chinatown, but, given the popular culture phenomenon regarding Ninja's, I'm sure I will live like a Queen if I open my own Dojo."
Splinter gave a throaty chuckle. "And if I allow you stay?"
She looked away as if deep in thought. "When I served under Lord Master Dakaru, I was one of his council. I would like to think my ideas were grand, but I am partially biased. He would ask me for intelligence and insight into the enemy. Plan upcoming attacks, inventory weapons, and, of course, pour his tea." Splinter arched a brow at the last comment. "His first and only wife died in the same fire your wife did. From the same wraith of Oroku. We did not start sharing tea until a few years ago." He still looked slightly amused. "It was only companionship, never physical."
Splinter leaned back, closed his eyes, and pulled his beard in thought. Mitizuki remained silent and drank her tea until he spoke to her. "I have kunoichi that need training. There are" he paused looking for the word, "some skill sets that I cannot teach."
Mitizuki sat her tea cup aside and bowed politely. "Consider it done."
The creaking of the wooden floor prompted Mickey and April to return to their seats quickly. The sliding door opened and Master Splinter appeared followed by a woman in a black cotton kimono with the same design as Splinter. Her right arm was slung inside the kimono rather than put her arm in the sleeve.
He lead her down towards the turtles and the two girls. "My sons and students. This is Izowa Mitizuki. She will be training the kunoichi."
April blinked. "but Sensei, I-"
"Will do well under her guidance. I believe Kari has her biography. She can fill you in." With a nod, Master Splinter returned to the dojo for more meditation.
April and Kari both stood in front of the Japanese woman awaiting orders. She shifted her eyes from each. "I am sorry, students" she said with a slight bow, "I am not feeling strong enough to teach you today. One more day of rest is all I ask. Please. Enjoy yourself today."
April lowered her brows. "Umm, okay."
Mitizuki gave another slight bow then turned to Kari. "I am to understand you are my biggest fan?" She said with a hesitant smile.
"Biggest." Leo announced.
"Like has your picture under her pillow." Raph helped.
Kari slapped both in the back of the head. "I just recognized your name."
"Liar." The boys said in unison.
Mitizuki smiled. "The fact that you 'recognized my name' says more about me than you. A bad ninja ends up in a body bag, a good ninja gets their name in paper, a great ninja has no name." With a final bow, she walked to Donnies lab and laid down to rest.
April looked at Kari. "So, what now?"
Kari gave a shrug and reclaimed her seat on the couch next to Mickey. "Told you I can be persuasive."
Raph pift. "Must be nice to be princess."
"It is, but I suppose being a Queen is better." Raph gave a confused look at her. "Aren't you The Drama Queen?"
A/N: Head cannon. I know, there are so many stories of How and Why Splinter left home. In the2012 version, he left home because there was nothing for him there...anymore. In this cannon, what if: While Shredder Destroyed the clan, a small sect was off on a mission. That mission included Mitizuki and Yoshi's Brother, Daraku.
