So this will be a story focusing on a large band of OCs I have come up with and will be looking at their start in life, how their parents became a couple and the reactions of the other TMNT to a new member of the clan.

Please review and let me know your thoughts!

Prologue

Like everything else, it started with a fight. Leo had been running a training session for his brothers, allowing their aging sensei to take a break from his now aching bones and watch rather than demonstrate. The eldest had criticised Raphael's form, ordering the correct position to be taken up, yet either due to built up tension or some private unsettled argument, Raph finally snapped, lashing out at his brother. Up to that stage, all was usual. Then Raph touched upon the sensitive subject of Karai who had been missing from the city for almost three years since her mutation. That was the final straw for Leo and his calm and authoritive demeanour crumbled releasing the destructive anger hidden beneath.

Before anyone could stop him, the eldest had unsheathed his katana and engaged the equally furious hot head. Splinter was forced to order his other two sons to restrain the two eldest turtles and calm them down separately.

Mikey, who had pulled Raph from the dojo, had easily calmed the fiery temper of his sibling with a carefully refined mix of words and hugs, Raph had regained his senses and admitted how out of order he had been. He had even been ready to talk to Leo and apologise, yet in the dojo, there was a very different story.

Donnie had caught Leo and had barely held the leader back until Splinter had managed to assist by paralysing the young leader through the use of pressure points – something he had never believed he would have to use at their current age of nineteen. Leo had refused point blank to talk to his directly younger brother and argued that Raph was too insensitive to respect his brothers' opinions. He stated that he wouldn't speak to Raph until he admitted how out of line he had been, but Splinter pointed out he was being childish and should accept his brother's faults in order to move on.

For the first time in his life Hamato Leo refused the advice of his sensei.

The tension grew thick around the lair with the eldest refusing to talk to his red banded brother and their Sensei soon realised he would need to intervene when Leo took a spar too far against his brother, almost cutting his face with his sword. The old rat was forced to call Leo into his room for an in depth discussion about his behaviour.

Within this talk, many things were revealed about Splinter's son. The ninja master learnt how self-doubt was crippling the leader's ability to make certain decisions and he had succumb to serious depression which had even moved Leo to the point of self-harm. Even more troubling was the fact that Leo had hidden all this from his family for the last couple of years and had been swallowed by guilt regarding Splinter's daughter's mutation and disappearance.

While revealing the issues restricting his tortured mind, Leo broke down, all his stress emerging in a single moment of time, before his father. Splinter had listened with patience, allowing his son to struggle through his confession, yet as he took a final shuddering breath before falling silent for his sensei's judgement, the old rat offered his decision. He told his son to take a pilgrimage to South America where he would learn how to balance his duty as leader and his role as a brother and son alone – without the distractions of city life. He would remain there for the next six months before returning home with a fresh outlook of his life. He would leave straight away.

Of course - due to the current situation regarding Raph - Splinter believed it best if he left immediately allowing the rat to inform the others in the morning, however he was pleased to hear Leonardo's request to write a letter for his brothers, apologising for his unbalanced behaviour and for his grudge against Raph.

Once the letter was written, Splinter helped his son prepare for the journey and together, the two mutants left the lair without the other turtles seeing and headed towards the airport.

Within an hour, Splinter had watched his son sneak into a plane and seen it take off, carrying away a broken spirit towards the unknown. Of course the rat regretted his decision, yet deep in his heart, he knew that without such intervention – his son would never allow himself to heal the deep scars which had marked his mind, and every moment his son spent focusing on his failures, the more likely he was to lead his brothers into disaster.

By the time Splinter had pulled himself away from watching the receding speck of silver of the plane and made his way back through the sewer system to his home, it was almost morning. As his sons had trudged into the dojo for their morning practise, they had noticed their eldest brother's absence and knew something was wrong. Splinter had handed them the letter and watched as his sons grew upset, shocked and angry at their master's decision – all the emotions the old rat was feeling within himself.

Such angry soon melted away and was replaced by sadness and a longing to see their sibling once more, to work out old arguments and start everything anew, and it was in such a haze that the six months of Leo's solo training passed. On the date of his return, Mikey ordered the lair to be cleaned and for a party to be organised for his big bro's arrival – yet nobody came back.

Mikey spent an entire week listening for any footsteps approaching the lair, praying that he would get to see his brother again, yet after this time – the old feelings returned anew with added worry. That was, up until the day Slash entered the lair with a letter from Central America. Inside was a quick explanation to Slash asking if he could bring the letter to the lair and another envelope from Leo.

The letter was vague, yet it apologised for not coming back soon. He said he had business to attend to before he returned, yet he was not sure how long it would take. He also apologised for his actions six months ago and assured them he was ready to come back and make things right, yet he needed to be certain that the time was right to return for there was a "situation" he was currently dealing with and he couldn't leave it now.

So once again, the brothers were forced to wait, unaware of what the situation was and how much of a shock it would be when Leo eventually returned home to explain everything.

Sounds a bit like TMNT 2007 right?! But It is more based on the 2012 version. Let me know your thoughts in a review! More to come soon!

LL99 Out.