:I Trust-ed- You:

This is going to be a small series of drabbles, but are all kinda connected in a way. This first one is going to be a little cheesy. n.n"

Hope you enjoy; don't forget to review!

"Dude, Leo. What's the matter?" Green eyes blinked as a certain teenage mutant ninja turtle watched his brother sulk.

"Yeah, you haven't eaten any of your pizza," a tall, gangly turtle agreed, shifting the goggles perched on his head.

"Can I have it?" a smaller turtle asked, grinning with pizza stuffed in his mouth. Eager blue eyes stared at their leader.

"Shut up, Mikey." The first turtle hit his brother upside the head.

"Ow! Raph, that hurt," Mikey complained.

"It's supposed to, idiot," Raph shot back.

"Guys, stop arguing. We're talking about Leo, remember?" The tallest turtle sighed, rolling his eyes.

The leader sighed, standing up. "Don't worry about me, Donnie. You guys have fun. I..." His gaze blanked. "I need some fresh air."

The turtles glanced at each other, and Raphael was the first to speak up: "Seriously, man. What's gotten into you? I mean, I can't believe I'm saying this, but we want Mr. Bossy-Leader-Pants-Who's-Obsessed-With-Space-Heroes back."

Leonardo shot his brother an irritated glare. "Back off, Raph."

"No, seriously; getting randomly angry is my shtick, remember?"

"What does 'shtick' mean?" Mikey asked, blinking. "It sounds like 'stick', but cooler."

Raph groaned and rolled his eyes, but Donnie turned to the smallest turtle. "It means 'an attention-getting or theatrical routine, gimmick, or talent'―oh why am I even bothering."

Mikey just shrugged.

"Keep bothering, Donnie. Someone's gotta babysit Mikey. I'm going out." Leo began walking off.

"Hey, that hurt!" Mikey whined, clutching his chest.

Raphael nodded. "Yeah, that was harsh, Leo. Back off a little."

Mikey stared at his brother in surprise. "Gee, thanks for sticking up for me, Raph."

"No problem." Raphael smirked as he grabbed Mikey and gave him a noogie. "I'm the one allowed to call you mean names."

"I hate you," Michelangelo whined.

"Uh, guys...I think we should take this more seriously. We were talking about―"

SLAM.

"―Leo, remember..." Donatello trailed off as his finger remained lingering in the air, pointing at the metallic garage door they had.

A tall rat appeared then, stroking the small beard he had. "Hello, sons."

"Sensei," Donatello greeted.

"Something appears to be troubling Leonardo..." Master Splinter murmured, staring at the garage door. He then turned to the turtles. "Are any of you aware of what may be bothering him...?"

Mikey and Raph simply glanced at each other and shrugged.

Meanwhile, Leonardo was making his way down the roofs of New York City, unleashing pent-up frustration.

"Whoa. Angry, much?"

Leo turned to see a familiar face staring back at him, and he felt even angrier than before. "...Karai," he snapped.

"Is that any way to greet an old friend?" she responded, hopping off of the wall she'd been sitting on.

"Like how you greeted me by capturing me with your Foot Bots?" Leo shot back, folding his arms as best as he could holding two swords, and glared at her. "Or what about when you led that uncalled for attack on April...? You put two innocent teens in danger."

She suddenly glared back. "Look, your Rat Sensei took away someone I cared about. I just wanted to return the favour." Glancing around, she suddenly asked, "What's so special about that April girl anyway? Why are you guys always hanging out with her?"

Surprised, Leo sheathed his swords and blinked. "...What...?"

"You heard me." Karai didn't look at him, as if embarrassed. "Why do you guys always hang out with that April girl?"

"...She's kinda special," Leo finally answered, unsure how much he could give away to Karai. He still had mixed emotions when it came to trusting the girl. Despite having tried to "assassinate" them more than once, he knew somewhere in his heart that she wasn't a bad girl.

"'Special'...?" Karai repeated, spinning around to him. "What's so special about her! It's like the world revolves around her or something. The Kraang wouldn't even capture that 'special' girl."

Leo's gaze hardened. "Hey, take that back. April's ten times nicer than you are."

Karai stared at him. "We're enemies, aren't we? What reason do I have to be nice to you?"

Leo stared back. Her words pierced him like her blades never had. "...I don't know. Why do you talk to me occasionally like a civilized person?"

"...I don't know either." Karai sounded reluctant. "There's...There's something about you...you stupid teenage mutant ninja turtle."

"I'm not stupid." Leonardo pouted.

To his surprise, Karai laughed. Her laugh was nice. Then Leo remembered that Karai was still a teenage girl. Even though she was a ninja trained by the Shredder, she was still a girl who was still a kid.

Leo smiled slightly. "Haven't heard you laugh much before. It sounds...kinda cute, actually."

Karai stopped to stare at him, her cheeks tinted red. "What...?"

Leo only then realized what he said. "Oh...uh, nothing." He paused, before quickly trying to recover their conversation: "Do you ever even have the chance to act like a kid with the Shredder being your father?"

"He's not a bad dad," she responded, crossing her arms. "Splinter's the one who's an assassin."

"Oh...? And what has your 'daddy' ever done for you...?"

"He's...trained me and protected me," Karai began. She paused then. "And..." She trailed off.

Leo smirked slightly. "See? He hasn't done much, has he...? My father and sensei's done all that and more."

"The Shredder doesn't have to. I know he loves me," Karai snapped back. But those words sounded hollow even to her, dangling in the air awkwardly. She knew they were most likely true, but the love still felt empty if her own father had never confirmed it to her.

"...That may be so, but don't you think Shredder should stop being Shredder for awhile and start being Oroko Saki? Not a ninja, but a dad. I've never heard you refer to him as Dad, " Leonardo pointed out.

Karai paused, her face flushing red. "What do you care, anyway? You don't understand anything!"

"...I know more than you do." Leo stared at the night sky. "Splinter...he told me the whole story."

"How he killed my mother? If you know, how can you still trust him?"

Leonardo sighed. "Karai...it's not my place to tell you the truth." He turned. "I should go back. My...brothers will be worried." He paused, before glancing back at her. "Thanks...I needed this conversation."

When he was about to leap off, Karai grabbed his arm. "Wait, what do you mean, the truth...?"

Leo glanced back at her, clearly hesitating. "...The Shredder hasn't told you everything, Karai."

Karai stared at the ground. "...Maybe. I've asked him before but he always tells me he's too busy."

"...You'll see. If you want to see a close family, come visit my brothers and sensei and I sometime. I promise I'll make them not bite," Leo joked, before turning to leave again. "See ya around, Karai―"

"Don't go!" When he turned to stare at her, surprised, her face reddened. "I...I have more questions."

Leo blinked, before sighing. "Look, Karai...a lot of us has lost something―someone―in their lives. You lost your mother, April's lost both her parents in a way―her dad's a mutant now. Shredder's lost the woman he loves, and Raphael's lost Spike. Donnie might lose April to that new Casey kid. He's also lost Mutagen Man, or Timothy, who he was trying so hard to find a cure for... And even Master Splinter's lost the people he cared about. The love of his life, and...his daughter."

Karai's eyes widened. "Wait...what...? Who's Splinter's daughter...?"

Leo smiled slightly. "You know her, Karai. She's closer to you than you think. I'm sure you know her better than anyone."

"But...I don't really know any other girls besides April, and even then we're not that close."

Leo just laughed. "It's not her, believe me. I'm sure you'll find out in due time. If not..." He leaned in. Karai flushed red, but Leo simply whispered in her ear, "I promise I'll be the first to tell you."

He leaned back and stared into her eyes. "I...I don't want to lose anyone else."

Karai paused, staring into Leonardo's eyes. They seemed sincere. Realizing she was still holding his hand, her grip tightened. "Who...Who have you lost, Leonardo...?"

"...You."

Leo's smile seemed tinted with a slight sadness. "I trusted you, Karai. But you've done so many bad things to us, and yet...I can't stop trusting you."

"Why...Why are you up here in the first place, anyway? You seemed so angry and frustrated." Karai was trying to hide her red face.

"That's because of you too." Leo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, which sounded like a sigh. When he opened them, they seemed sad, but brighter at the same time. "I don't know why, but somehow deep down inside I still get this feeling you're not a bad person. My brothers won't believe me, and...you haven't exactly been helping to improve your image."

"I'm...sorry, Leonardo," Karai managed to say.

"You can call me Leo if you want... Like how the people close to me do." Leo simply smiled again, breaking their grip as he waved goodbye. "Let me adjust my wording, Karai. It's not that I trusted you, I still trust you. Maybe I won't lose you after all."

And with that, he was gone, leaving Karai to stand there with the cool night breeze and wonder what he'd meant.

And as for Leonardo, as he raced off into the night, he couldn't help but take a deep breath and smile. He was relieved to finally have gotten that off of his chest.

Time to get back to the sewer.