Splinter smiled at his four five-year-old sons as they chased each other around the home he had established for them. It wasn't much; he had created much of what was inside their sewer home. He made one bed for all of them to sleep on since when he found them they were so tiny, but now they had grown a considerable amount. Splinter figured it was because of their mutation that they were growing so big. Right now, they were the average size of a normal five-year-old boy.
"Boys, Ochisuke! Come, it's time for cake." Splinter yelled. Today was the boys "Mutation day" as he called it since Splinter wasn't sure what day the boys were actually born. They celebrated the day they were mutated as their birthday.
It didn't take long for the boys to come into the kitchen. Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo all came in chasing each other. The were playing tag it looked like. A few moments later Donatello came into the kitchen, a book in his hand that he was reading while he was walking. His eyes still locked onto his book, Donatello reached for the chair closest to him and hopped on it, placing his book on the counter; still reading it. As for the rest of Splinter's sons they were still playing around.
"Boys, Ochisuke!" Splinter yelled once again.
The boys stopped rough housing and Leonardo, who Splinter considered the oldest, said, "I'm sorry, Master Splinter. We got...um..."
"Carried away." Splinter finished his sentence. "Come, sit."
Leonardo started to run to an open seat, and sat down. However, Raphael and Michelangelo were fighting over one particular seat. Raphael wrestled Michelangelo out of his seat, and put him in a headlock.
"Mercy. Mercy." Michelangelo whined.
"Say it!" Raphael said, still holding his brother in a headlock.
"Raphael, we do not wrestle at the table, and especially not on a day like today. You are to be kind and respect one another, understood." Splinter interrupted.
"Hai, Sensei." Raph acknowledged. Raph shoved Mikey one last time, and took a seat next to Leo. Mikey glared, but said nothing as he took a sat beside Donatello.
"Father, can we have the cake now?" Mikey asked excitedly, his anger forgotten. Splinter had notices that Michelangelo was the most exuberant of the four, always bouncing or running around, not paying attention to what Splinter was trying to teach most of the time.
"Patience, Michelangelo." Splinter replied. Patience was something they both needed to learn, although in different ways.
"C'mon. Please, father? We've been waiting all day." Mikey pleaded, making puppy dog eyes, his brothers joining in.
Splinter closed his eyes in concentration. Sighing, he said, "You may have some cake now."
Splinter himself had made the cake, or the frosting at least. Splinter had gone topside while the boys were sleeping, and searched he dumpsters for anything sweet. He found a few half eaten chocolate bars and a half eaten cake. At least it was better than nothing, Splinter had thought. After his little escapade topside, Splinter quickly came back to the lair. When he got home he melted down the chocolate he had collected on the stove until it was smooth. After the chocolate was liquified, he used a knife and spread the melted chocolate all over the half eaten cake. And it didn't look that bad, Splinter himself thought about eating a piece, but he refrained since the cake was small and would barely feed the four young ones he was raising.
Now, Splinter cut the cake into four even pieces and distributed it to the four eager boys whose excitement showed on their faces. This would be the first time they had ever tasted cake. Splinter examined each of his sons faces as they got their cake: Leonardo was hesitant to eat his piece, but he eventually raised the piece to his mouth and ate it; his eyes lit up and he shoved more cake into his mouth, Raphael picked up his whole slice and tried to make it fit into his mouth so he could swallow it whole; however doing this made his cheeks puff out from the chunk of food in his mouth until Raph chewed and swallowed it all, Donatello poked and prodded the cake with his utensil, a curious expression on his face, finally deciding to give it a try Donnie picked up a small piece and slowly inserted it into his mouth; after tasting it he smiled his gap-toothed smile and kept eating, Michelangelo was scooping the food into his mouth very quickly until every crumb was off his plate.
After the boys were finished, Splinter allowed them to run around while he washed the dishes. He smiled to himself, as he had a surprise for his sons this birthday. After drying his hands, Splinter went to the dojo to get a collection of weapons from the weapon's chest. This would be the year he would teach his sons how to use any weapon of their choice.
Laying the weapons carefully on the floor, he called his sons over to him. "What is it, father?" Leonardo asked.
"Well, this year I have decided to teach you how to handle a weapon. I want the four of you to pick any weapon of your choice."
"Ooh... I want this one!" Michelangelo yelled as he picked up a nunchuck, swinging it around wildly.
"Actually Michelangelo, those are called the nunchaku. There are two of them. They have hidden blades inside them."
"Cool!" Mikey said, still swinging the nunchucks around, but he lost his grip and the nunchucks went flying almost hitting Master Splinter in the head. Splinter just let them fly past him. "Perhaps you should wait until I teach you how to use the weapon before you wield it."
Mikey smiled sheepishly. "Hai, Sensei."
Meanwhile, a glint on silver caught Leonardo's eye. Moving the weapons covering the weapon he was eyeing, Leonardo picked up a katana blade. "I choose this one." Leonardo said, his eyes full of wonder as he looked at it. Now he could be like those samurai in the stories that Splinter told them every night.
"Ah, the katana blade. A very good choice, Leonardo. Many of Japan's ancient warrior used blades very similar to this one. Now, so we don't have any accidents, please let me see the katana." Leo looked disheartened, but he gave the blade to Splinter.
Donatello was the next to choose his weapon, he chose the Bo staff. It may have been to big for him, but Splinter knew that he could cut it down to size.
"The naginata. Another excellent choice." Splinter said, taking the tall staff from the five year old. "If you look closely, there is a button right here," Splinter pointed to a spot on the staff, inclining where he meant. "That, if pressed, produces a hidden blade." Splinter pressed the button, and to Donatello's shear amazement, a blade glided out. "See."
"That must mean that its hollow on the inside, right?" Donnie asked.
"Right."
"Sensei, I think I found my weapon," Raph said, a sai in his hand.
"The sais. A very interesting choice, Raphael. Now, let me see it so I can hold it for safekeeping." Splinter said to Raphael, and then raised his voice so that the rest of his sons would hear what he had to say, "Tomorrow we begin training."
