Author's Note

Hello Universe! Palkia's back with Chapter 3! Yee! But before we get into it…

gwencarson126: Thank you so much for the review! Honestly the mystic deer, or spirit deer, or whatever you want to call it deer has always been a mystery. So much could've been done with it, along with other things in the series. But the deer is my favorite plot mystery, and I love to explore it more. Also Princess Mononoke is like my favorite movie so I wanted to name him Shishigami.

I'm glad you also enjoyed Kurama. On Narutopedia, it's said that Kurama has a very cynical sense of humor. So I was hoping to get it sort of correct. As for your questions, you'll have to wait and see. But I will answer one thing. In Shippuden, when Pain supposedly killed Hinata, Naruto with the influence of the Nine Tails lost control and went berserk. So it might be possible… Once again thank you for the review!

This story currently has over 450 views! Thank you all of you who support this story! It means so much!

Here's the song list!

(1) Sakura's Season- Naruto OST 3

(2) Afternoon of Konoha- Naruto OST 2

(3) Risking It All- Naruto Shippuden OST

Time to get right into it!

I do not own Naruto and I do not own TMNT

Chapter 3

First Time for Everything

Oh how he wished he could be out of here now...

Today was Leo and his brothers' 15th birthday, or rather mutation day Leo rather called it, since it wasn't his actual birthday. For his actual birthday, he had no idea what the actual date was to begin with, but Kurama suggested that it was probably in August since the turtles couldn't have been weeks old when they were sold to Splinter. For his brothers, the giant fox thought it would've been the end of August/beginning of September. Not only was it their mutation day, but it was also Kurama's 1,000th birthday, which meant the young turtle secretly had something for him that he didn't know about.

If only he could leave and give said surprise. Currently he and his family were eating dinner. Today's special was a delicacy, as well as the only thing they could eat for the past 15 years: Algae and Worms. They were easy to obtain, since Splinter didn't have to go to the surface to forage for food, and they provided a good amount of protein. Well, sort of, to some extent, ok not really. For Leo at least, they didn't provide enough energy to keep his chakra in check.

Speaking of chakra, he put his body into work when earlier they had evening training. It ended up being Raph against Leo once again. However, Leo let him win the fight, because he realized that when he was winning, he could sense the negative emotions of hatred and anger rise within his younger brother. So in order to subdue those emotions, and to get the giant fox inside of him somewhat of an early birthday present, Raph managed to beat Leo good. The fox got a laugh out of that.

Now he only wished he could go get a decent meal instead of this. As soon as Leo saw Mikey come out with five plates of the eerie green substance, he tried his best to hide his disgust, as well as the fact that he wanted to throw up. 'Again with the algae and worms?' He thought. "Eat out of the mini fridge tonight," Kurama suggested. "Your chakra levels will go down. And even I don't feel like eating that." Leo saw his brothers and father begin to dig into the greenish meal.

"Sensei," he began. "May I be excused? I'm not that hungry. I don't really feel like eating." Leo pushed the plate away from him. Mikey, who was watching Leo refuse to eat the mound of food, suddenly got an idea and left the kitchen. The rest of his family however, had begun to notice that Leonardo hadn't eaten the algae and worms for a few days. Though he didn't seem to show any signs of hunger.

"Leo, you haven't eaten any food for a few days," Donnie stated. "You need to eat. Otherwise, you could possibly gain signs of malnutrition, iron deficiency, dehydration because we do get water from the algae…" Before he could continue further, Splinter began to speak. "He is correct my son," he said. "You must eat. Taking care of your health is part of a ninja's training. Food strengthens both the body and mind."

The eldest turtle sighed, looking down at the food. 'At least they're noticing the fact that I am fed,' he mentally noted. "Really Sensei, I'm fine, I don't feel like eating." That was Mikey's cue to come in, only now he was holding something. "Hey Leo!" Mikey exclaimed. "If you're not hungry for algae and worms, then you'll be hungry for this!" He placed it on the table in front of the three brothers.

Leo nearly wanted to throw up at the sight of it. Even Kurama, who usually isn't disgusted by much, was also trying his best to not gag or throw up a Tailed Beast Ball. On the table was something that could only be described as two whole cans of cat food being placed on top of each other. Only it was covered in a green slimy substance, and had worms crawling out of it. "Oh look it's last week's sewage treatment," Kurama stated sarcastically. He nearly laughed at that, but Leo knew it would hurt Mikey, as well as make him look suspicious.

"Is that a...cake?" the eldest turtle said, trying to look at least a little bit interested in Mikey's nightmarish concoction. "It is a cake!" Donnie exclaimed in fascination, as the family never had a cake before. Raph, slightly interested, reached his finger out and touched the cake, bringing a small amount of the substance to his mouth, tasting it. "Made of...algae," he said. He then saw a worm crawl in it. "And...worms." Leo sighed.

"What's the frosting made out of?" Leo asked, once again trying to hide both his lack of interest as well as his disgusted look. "You don't wanna know," Mikey answered, slightly nervous. "If your brothers dare try to shove that food in your mouth, I will personally take over your body and burn that abomination in seconds." the giant kitsune sneered. 'I will take note of that,' he answered the fox nervously.

"Happy Mutation Day!" Mikey exclaimed happily, with a smile on his face. "Happy Mutation Day!" Donnie and Raph echoed him, both putting on smiles of their own. Leo however didn't return the words, and instead stood silent, staring down at the pile of muck in front of him.

"Ah yes," Splinter began to speak, happily noting that his sons were once again turning another year older. He began to remember the events of the past that occurred in order for this day to exist in the first place. "Fifteen years ago today, our lives changed forever, and we became the most unlikely of families." "If you consider being split apart into another being along with eight other beings and also being controlled to attack a village, and as well as becoming sealed inside of someone 'life-changing,'" Kurama noted.

'As well as going comatose for almost a year and nearly dying for three hours,' Leo inwardly chuckled. 'And who's fault was that I wonder?' "I blame the Hokage," Kurama shrugged. 'He probably wasn't that bad of a guy, whatever his name was,' Leo said to him. 'And besides, I'm a good jinchuriki aren't I?' "Better than my previous two," the giant kitsune stated. "But...still average," 'HEY!'

"Tell us the story Master Splinter!" Mikey pleaded, begging to hear the story of their origin once more. "Michelangelo, I have told it many times," Master Splinter to said to him, but this did not satisfy his youngest son. "Please? Pleeeeaaaassse!?" he begged. Leo nearly rolled his eyes, but before he could stop him, Raph began to speak. "Please, it's the only way to shut Mikey up."

"Ah very well," Master Splinter began the story. "Many years ago, when I was still human…" Leo no longer paid attention to his father, as his mind began to drift off somewhere else. 'Here we go again,' he thought. 'Once again telling the story.' "Only with the part about how you almost died edited out," Kurama noted. 'I'm surprised he hasn't told them about that yet,' Leo said to him. "Would you want your brothers to constantly check on your health because of that one incident?" 'That, and he probably didn't want them to be traumatized,' Leo said.

He then noticed Master Splinter hold up the broken canister, the same one that made transformed them into what they are now. 'You know, we never found out why those guys wanted to go into your dimension with that stuff,' the turtle noted. "Hmm," the giant kitsune hummed. "Imagine what that stuff could do to shinobi. Chakra natures out of control. They would become literal chakra monsters." Leo didn't even want to think about that.

"That was the beginning of our life together," The rat master said, finishing his story. "It was the mysterious substance in this canister that, in a way, gave birth to us all." 'And also gave me a death wish,' the eldest turtle mentally thought. 'He even left out the portal as well. I guess that's a good thing, considering it's a miracle he didn't see you enter my body.'

"Mom…" Mikey happily sighed as he had snatched the empty broken canister from Master Splinter. "Does your brother like to go on nice, long walks on the beach with that thing?" Kurama inquired. Leo inwardly chuckled. 'I don't know. But there's something suspicious about whatever was in that canister. It's definitely not normal. And those men couldn't have been normal either.' "Aliens?' the kitsune suggested. "I have seen quite a few in my dimension." 'Possibly, but there's no way to tell for sure.' Leo thought. 'For all we know it could've been something made by science. But the possibility of aliens is there as well because of the portal. And that logo...on the canister I mean. I swear I've seen it before when I've been on a run around the city. I think it's…"

"Leo!" he heard his brother Raph call out to him. "Ahh!" this caught the eldest turtle by surprise, as he nearly fell out of his chair. "Are you even paying attention?" Raph said. "This is like the third time I called you!" Leo blushed, embarrassment taking over him as well as nervousness since he had been talking to Kurama. "Sorry," Leo said. "I just spaced out. Yes Raph?" "Isn't there something you want to ask Sensei about?" he inquired. The eldest turtle knew what is was now.

'Do I really have to be the one to ask this?' he said to Kurama. 'We both know he's gonna say no.' "And what if he says yes?" the fox asked. "That would be one secret off of your 'List of hiding away your life.'" 'I guess,' Leo inwardly sighed. 'But even if he stills says no, I'll still go out no matter what.' The eldest turtle stood up, blue irises staring towards his Sensei.

"So Sensei," he began. "Now that we're fifteen, I think we're finally ready to go up to the surface, don't you?" Each of his brothers turned to their father, grins on their face. The rat master stood silent for a second, then spoke. "Yes," he answered. "Sweet!" "Woo-hoo!" Alright!" his brothers cheered. Leo stood silent. 'Wait for it…' he thought. "3...2...1,"

"And no," Sensei said. "Aww man," "Lame," "I hate when he does that," his brothers groaned. 'Ooo nice timing on that,' "I aim to please," Kurama commented. The fox paused, then continued. "I do not sense negative energy coming from him. I sense nervousness." 'You think he's nervous about this situation? About us going to the surface?' Leo said. "Maybe…" the fox trailed off. 'Now that I think about it, I don't feel any anger coming from him,' the eldest turtle noted. 'I wonder…'

"You have grown powerful," Splinter began. "But you are still young. You lack the maturity to use your skills wisely." "Heh, try 1,000 years rat!" Kurama exclaimed. Leo nearly laughed out loud, but managed to keep it in. "I could blow up an entire city if I wanted to." 'Oh..right…'

"So Sensei, isn't that just 'no?'" Donnie asked. "Yes...and no," Splinter said. "Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from mistakes." "Aha! So in order for us to gain the wisdom, we have to make the mistakes! So we can go!" Donnie exclaimed, a grin growing on his face. Leo wanted to facepalm at this, but chose not to at the moment.

"No," Master Splinter answered sternly, as well as quickly to his intelligent son. "And yes?" Donnie asked. "No!" This time Splinter yelled. The purple masked turtle's smile faded away instantly. He held his head with his right hand as stared down at the table. "Ohh…!" Donnie groaned in defeat. Leo shook his head slightly. He looked around the room, noticing both Mikey and Raph had their heads down.

'I don't want to ask him further,' Leo said to Kurama. 'I understand he doesn't want us to go up to the surface yet, and I do want to go up there as well. It's just…' "You don't want to take responsibility for your brothers," the giant kitsune stated. 'Yeeeeaaahhh…' Leo thought. 'I love my brothers, don't get me wrong, it's just every time I'm in charge of them, Master Splinter blames me whenever they do something wrong. And I have other things I want to do while I'm out there rather than stay with them.'

"Regardless, you need to have the rat grant you official permission to go up to the surface," Kurama started. "Otherwise it would begin to look awkward when you randomly disappear from the lair. And they'll know that you're up there staying out of sight, when in reality you're doing something else." 'You're right,' the turtle inwardly sighed.

"Sensei, we know you're trying to protect us, but we can't spend our whole lives hiding down here," Leo said. 'Well at least me anyway, I have a life debt I owe,' "You're welcome!" Kurama said happily. The eldest turtle could imagine a giant grin on the kitsune's face. On the other side of things, Splinter turned his back to them, beginning to think about what his eldest son said. 'At least he's reconsidering,' he thought. 'That's something.'

"Put on the puppy eyes," Kurama grinned. Leo nearly choked out loud at the fox's statement. 'OH HECK NO!' Leo mentally yelled. 'I am NOT doing that!' "What if I teach you a new jutsu that you may find very useful?" he said. Leo's interest was immediately caught. 'You're joking, aren't you?' he asked. "I am not," The fox hummed. 'Ok, what's the jutsu?' "I'm not telling you," he chuckled. 'You've got to be kidding me. Is it a jutsu I will hate?' "No," "Hrmm, fine I'll do it. I'll trust you for now…'

Splinter turned around, and noticed all four of his sons kneeling on the floor, with the biggest puppy eyes his sons could put on. Each were begging for their father to let them go up to the surface. It was a sight that the rat master could never say no to unfortunately. "Hmm," he sighed. Then his ears lowered in defeat. "You may go. Tonight."

Immediately, the three younger turtles jumped off the floor and shouted for joy. Leo, on the other hand, sat down, a small grin forming on his face. 'Well, that's one thing taken care of,' he thought. "Hmm?" The fox hummed. 'Close your eyes for a minute,' Leo mentally said to him. Kurama did what he was told, and closed his eyes. 'I'll tell you when to open them.'

"High three!" Mikey shouted, which was their version of a high five, since they only had three fingers. Raph and Donnie joined him. They placed their hands together, however Mikey noticed that someone was missing. "Hey Leo! Come on, don't leave me hanging dude! High...oh?" The three brothers, along with their sensei, looked around the room for any sign of the eldest turtle. Only, he was gone.

Silently, Leo closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it. The turtle walked over to the side of his bed, where a small, blue and white mini fridge was placed. Leo has bought it with his own money, and surprisingly, there was an electrical outlet in his room, well more like three electrical outlets. He opened the freezer part of the fridge and pulled something out of it. Closing the door, Leo hopped onto his bed and sat on it. He laid down, with the frozen object in hand, and closed his eyes.

In an instant, instead of being in his room, he was now in his mindscape, which hadn't changed at all over the years. However this time, he wasn't a turtle. Instead he was in his lion form. Walking over to the bars where behind them was Kurama, he carried the object that he had obtained from the mini fridge just a few seconds ago. "You can open your eyes," he said. The fox did so, and when he did, he gasped.

(1) "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Leo shouted. He held out something to Kurama. It was a carton of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. The giant fox's eyes widened in surprise. "HOW DID YOU GET THIS WITHOUT ME KNOWING?" he exclaimed. "I have my ways," Leo grinned. "So, what do you think?" The fox used his chakra to make the small container large enough for him and the lion to enjoy it.

"Have I ever told you that you're my favorite friend?" the kitsune said. "I'm your only friend Kurama," he chuckled. "And this time, it's something we can both eat. No algae and worms." Both the lion and the fox began to dig into the ice cream. Leo had to admit, he was actually hungry. He slowly picked at the mint flavored desert, while Kurama on the other hand, dug straight into the carton. Both lifted their muzzles out of the carton, which were now colored green from the food coloring. They looked at each other, grinning and laughing at each other as they noticed the green substance on their faces.

"I want to ask you something," Kurama said to Leo. "Hmm?" Leo lifted his head out of the carton, revealing yet again the green colored muzzle. "Do you love your family?" he asked. "You seem to enjoy celebrating my birthday than your's and your brother's birthday." Leo licked some of the green substance off of his muzzle. "I do love my family, don't get me wrong," he began. "But, sometimes I think I want to be on my own. I just feel like I can't deal with everything they throw at me."

"I'm also a bit nervous about this situation. If we go up to the surface, Master Splinter's probably going to expect me to watch them, and if anything happens to them, then it'll be on me." Kurama licked some of the ice cream off of his own face, then spoke. "Perhaps, one day you'll be on your own," the kitsune stated. "Well I still owe you," the lion answered. "In order to set you free, then I would have to leave New York, and travel in some sort of way to even get to your dimension, which I don't even know how we're going to do that yet." Leo then changed the subject.

"So, do you enjoy your birthday present?" He asked. The giant kitsune licked some ice cream off of his muzzle once again, then proceeded to eat. "It's better than worms and algae," he joked. "But yes, I did enjoy it." "Sorry it wasn't much," Leo apologized. "I didn't find out about your birthday until yesterday, and I had to get something quick." "Heh, are you kidding? No one has celebrated my birthday before, other than you.

"Which reminds me, about that jutsu. I can teach you it tomorrow with Shishigami. And...there's something I want to give you for your birthday." "YOU GOT ME SOMETHING?" Leo exclaimed. "HOW?!" "Heh! I have my ways too…" the fox smirked. "Kurama, you didn't have to get me anything," the lion stated. "I feel like you'll need it," the giant kitsune answered.

Both didn't say anything else, as they feasted on their mint flavored meal. Soon, it was down to half, and then finally down to nothing, the carton completely empty. The lion and fox looked satisfied, as well as full. Leo laid down on the ground, with Kurama doing the same as well. "I swear, my stomach is like a black hole or something, even bigger than Mikey's," Leo chuckled. "The chakra absorbs the food and turns it into more chakra," the kitsune stated. "So you won't get bigger any time soon."

"Did you enjoy your birthday?" Leo asked, looking over at the fox. "I did," he admitted. The fox leaned back and closed his eyes. "Yeah, I did too," the lion answered back, yawning soon afterward. "The best one I've had in a very long time…" He fell asleep, letting the ice cream he recently ate settle in. A smile grew on his face. 'This is definitely better than algae and worms…' (1!)

A few hours later…

All four turtles stood in front of their master, silent and respectful. Each were now prepared to go up to the surface. "You are going up to a strange and hostile world," Master Splinter began. The rat master walked in front of them, with a stern look on his face. "You must maintain awareness at all times." "Remember, if for some reason Chinese food is flying at you, make sure to dodge it," the fox chuckled. Leo ignored the comment, trying to keep a serious look on his face while paying attention to his sensei.

"Hai Sensei!" all four of the turtles responded. As soon as they were done, they began to turn towards the entrance. "Stay in the Shadows!" Splinter warned them. "In other words, don't go up to a human and say hi," the kitsune continued. The eldest turtle nearly chuckled at that, but still had a serious look.

"Hai Sensei!" Once again, they turned to their father respectfully, understanding what he meant. Then they began to make their way towards the entrance again. "Don't talk to strangers!" "Define stranger, human or rat?" Kurama stated. Leo was becoming close to laughing. 'Dear god Kurama, please,' the turtle begged jokingly.

"Hai Sensei," they replied, only this time they threw in a slightly annoyed tone. For the third time, the four brothers headed towards the entrance. "Everyone is a stranger!" Master Splinter added. Leo was getting even more annoyed. 'How protective can a guy get?' he thought. "Not everyone is a stranger," Kurama commented.

"Hai Sensei," the brothers groaned, now even more annoyed by their Sensei. They ran towards the entrance. "Make sure you go before you leave! The restrooms up there are filthy!" Splinter yelled. All four turtles turned to him, embarrassed by what he had said to them. "Yes Leonardo, you don't want to accidentally walk in when someone's 'doing it' with a girl," the fox sneered jokingly. This time, Leo's face flushed red, more so than his brothers being embarrassed by their Sensei. 'KURAMA!' he mentally yelled. He was answered by a laughing fox.

"SENSEI!" the four turtles groaned at him, now instead of slightly annoyed, they were all very annoyed. Splinter sighed, his ears lowering, now trying to put faith in the fact that his sons would come home alright. "Good luck my sons," he said, smiling to then. "I am so pumped!" "Surface time!" "This is gonna be epic!" Leo's three younger brothers exclaimed. 'Here we go,' Leo mentally added. All four turtles leapt over the turnstiles. "Look both ways before crossing the street!" Splinter yelled to them, but they didn't hear him. The rat master sighed, his ears lowering again. 'Please, let my sons come home safe,' he silently prayed.

They ran through the sewers, excitement all over their faces. "Well, this should be interesting," Kurama stated. "You've been up to the surface before many times, but your brothers are a different story." 'This is gonna be a nightmare,' the eldest turtle answered him. 'One minute, it'll be let's go to the surface, the next it'll be getting caught and being experimented on.'

They reached the manhole cover, one where Leo would often head to when he would go up to the surface during his time of freedom, or whatever time he had left of freedom. He began to climb up the ladder, with his brothers following behind him. 'Alright, here goes nothing,' Leo thought. The turtle gently lifted up the manhole cover just a little bit, peeking out to see if there was anyone there. He put his finger to the ground, seeing if he could sense anyone nearby.

"I sense no one here," the kitsune replied. From what Kurama could gather over the years he spent inside the mutant turtle, Leonardo was becoming a sensor-type shinobi. Not only had he inherited Kurama's ability to sense negative emotions, but he also was very good at sensing other beings nearby, despite no one in this dimension having chakra, but instead having their own version of chakra that wasn't usable. On top of that, the eldest turtle had incredible speed and reflexes, even more so than his brothers. In general, he had the greatest capabilities to become a sensor type.

(2) Leo, sensing no one nearby, lifted up the cover more, and gently placed it to the side, not wanted to notify any humans. He came out of the manhole and looked around. Not much had changed since he came up here a few days ago, before the encounter with Shishigami. Trash lay on the ground, graffiti was on the brick walls of a building, and in the corner was a homeless guy, but the eldest turtle knew that he was sleeping when he sensed him.

His brothers came up after him, in shock and awe at the scenery around them. Leo nearly scoffed that their curiosity. 'Seriously?' he thought. 'This place is like a dump. It's not even clean to begin with!' "To be fair, this is the first time your brothers are going up to the surface." Kurama stated. "Although, they have seen pictures of the surface on tv, so they should know what to expect. Try to look somewhat impressed, otherwise they'll become suspicious of you." Leo inwardly nodded at the statement.

"It's so beautiful," Mikey said from behind him. "Beautiful? More like his nightmarish version of a cake," the giant fox chuckled. 'Mikey thinks anything can be interesting,' Leo commented. 'He could probably think that growing grass could be interesting. At this point I really shouldn't be surprised he would think like this at this moment.' All four turtles began to walk towards the street, now looking at the small shops. His brothers go ahead of him, their excitement barely being able to be contained.

'I might as well let them go ahead,' he thought. 'Let them enjoy it. I've been around this area so many times that I know it like the back of my hand.' "During daytime," Kurama added. "Speaking of which, have you…?" 'Already have,' the turtle answered, knowing exactly what the fox was going to say. 'I already told him a few days ago that I wasn't going to be around due to my 'birthday,' and he was alright with it.' "Good," the kitsune answered.

"Look at all the computers!" Donnie exclaimed, which drew Leo out of his conversation with Kurama. He looked over at his genius brother, noticing that the purple masked turtle was staring into a window of an electronic store. His brother seemed mesmerized and astonished by how high quality they were, as they could barely get anything good in the sewers. The genius turtle wished he had some of this.

"Is that the next generation cadmium processor, with quantum encryption?!" He stated, hardly containing his excitement. "I don't know Donatello, is it?" Raph said to him sarcastically, getting slightly annoyed by the fact that his younger brother was becoming infatuated by a machine. "It is!" Donnie said happily, ignoring Ralf's earlier comments.

"Guys guys! Check this out!" Leo's attention then turned to Mikey, who was staring at a neon sign which belonged to a palm reader. The sign was in the shape of a hand, which flowed purple, and in the center was a darkened eye. "A hand made out of light!" To his amazement, the hand suddenly blocked off, now replaced by a light blue eye. "Now it's an eye made out of light!" The eye changed to the hand. "And the hand again!" The hand changed to the eye. "Now the eye's back!" It changed back to the hand. "Now the hand!"

"Does he ever shut up?" The kitsune commented. Thankfully, his prayers were answered, as an annoyed Raph grabbed the ends of Mikey's mask and began to drag him away. "Come on genius," he said, the red mask turtle having no trouble at dragging his youngest brother away. "The eye!" Mikey yelled, as was taken away from the window. Leo sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. 'It amazes me how normal my brothers can be down in the sewers, but when they came up here, curiosity took over them and made them become idiots,' the eldest turtle inwardly chuckled. "You were surprised when you came up here," Kurama stated. 'That's because I was ten,'

"So, where to next?" Donnie asked Leo, taking him out of his conversation again. But before the eldest turtle could answer, a light began to be shone on the four brother, causing them to turn to the source of the light. It was a young human teen on a small motorbike. The three younger brothers and the human stared at each other for a moment. That is, until Raph decided to scare him.

However, it wasn't the red masked turtle that scared the young teen. It was the blue masked turtle, whose blue irises had now just turned into fiery red ones, and pupils had turned into slits. Fox whisker marks had now appeared on his face, and his teeth had turned from rounded to sharp, pointed ones. He was becoming a fox-turtle hybrid. The teen screamed, and began to drive away. As he did, a large rectangular box was dropped from the back of the motorbike.

Leo's appearance changed back to normal, as he regained control over his body. "Hehehe, HAHAHAHA!" Kurama laughed in his mind. 'Ooohhh I am going to kill you,' the turtle inwardly groaned, slightly leaning his head against his hand.

"That was kinda fun!" Raph smirked. Leo nearly facepalmed. "I'm starting to like your brother," the fox replied. 'HEY!' the eldest turtle mentally exclaimed. 'Remember that time when I was ten and what happened?!' "Scaring humans is fun," Kurama chuckled. That was when the eldest turtle realized something. 'It won't be fun if they see us,' he replied.

"We're too exposed out here," Leo said to his brother. He looked around, hoping to find some area that was safely away from humans. "Up there," the fox suggested. The turtle turned his head, noticing a fire escape that lead up to the top of a building. 'Perfect Kurama,' he thought. "Come on!" He said to them, running towards the fire escape. His brothers followed him, however Mikey noticed the big flat box that the human boy had just recently dropped. His curiosity took over, as he grabbed the box, noticing that it was a little bit warm. Nevertheless, Mikey followed his older brothers up the fire escape.

They reached the top of the building and climbed onto the rooftop, no longer exposed to the lights and humans below. Leo sunk down to the ground, exhaustion taking over him. 'Well at least no more humans can see us now,' Leo thought. While he relaxed, his three younger brothers stared at the box that Mikey picked up.

"Piz-zaw?" Mikey tried to pronounce it right, but Leo knew he was failing miserably. The act of trying to block his own laughter at his brother's mispronunciation showed that. 'Are you kidding me!' He inwardly chuckled. 'It's pizza, not piz-zaw!' "Should we open it?" Donnie asked. "Ooohh careful, it might explode!" Kurama joked. "Careful, it could be dangerous," the eldest turtle cautioned, trying his best not to laugh at the fact that his brothers were taking this thing as dangerous.

Raph, thinking that he was the bravest of the four, decided to go forward and open up the box. Inside was a flat, round-shaped object. They could hear it sizzling and hissing, with small red circles. Leo could smell the scent of the pizza from where he stood. His brothers stood around the pizza, in awe as they had never seen anything like it before. "I think it's...food," Donnie stated. "It's not like any food I ever saw," Raph said. 'That's because all of your life you've eaten algae and worms,' the eldest turtle silently thought.

"I'll try it," Mikey answered. "I had a feeling he would try it," the fox commented. "With the skills of making a nightmare cake, practically anything can become food if he tried." 'Anything can become food?' Leo questioned. "Well I never said good or edible food," Kurama commented. Both of them watched as Mikey began to bring the slice of pizza towards his mouth. 'It won't hurt him, will it?' he asked. 'Since he's a mutant turtle, and I'm a bit more different than him.' "High doubtful," the kitsune answered. "You've had it before, but you have exceptions. If it causes food poisoning, well it's his loss." Mikey began to eat the slice of pizza.

"Mm! Mm! Mm!" Leo could see that his youngest brother was enjoying it. 'Well, it looks like it's safe for him,' the turtle said to Kurama. Mikey shoved the entire rest of the slice into his mouth. When he was done, he let out a belch. Mikey then realized that his brothers were staring at him. The youngest turtle came up with an excuse to make them think it wasn't good.

"Uhh, yuck!" Mikey exclaimed. "You guys won't like it." He paused for a second. "Wait for it…' Leo thought. "I'll take the rest!" He immediately ran towards the rest of the pizza. "No way!" "Back off!" his two older brothers yelled, as Donnie and Raph ran towards the pizza as well. All three of them began taking slices of pizza and ate them. Leo meanwhile, was watching them from a distance.

"I never thought I'd taste anything better than worms and algae, but this is amazing!" Raph commented, munching on the pizza. "I love it up here!" Mikey shouted, not even worried if any humans heard him shouting from the rooftops. A smirk began to form on Leo's face. He was happy that his brothers were enjoying life on the surface. Everything so far was going well for all four of them. (2!)

'I don't feel like eating pizza now,' he mentally said to Kurama. 'We literally just ate that huge tub of ice cream, I don't think my stomach can handle anymore tonight.' "I find pizza to have too much grease. Don't eat it. Either you'll throw up or something will happen to your chakra with that amount of grease." The fox commented.

"Hey Leo! You gotta try some of this Piz-zaw dude! It's reeeeeaaaallly good!" Mikey exclaimed, holding out a slice of pizza to the eldest turtle. "No thank you Mikey, I'm alright," Leo answered. This however, angered Raphael slightly. "Aww come on Leo! You haven't eaten anything in a while!" He stated, clearly noting the lack of food that his brother had been eating lately. "Just try some. It's better than algae and worms."

"No really guys, my stomach's just been acting up. I don't feel like eating now," Leo mentally face palmed at that, knowing that Donnie would now be all over him because of his issue. "Are you alright Leo?" His genius brother asked. "Yeah I'm fine," he shrugged it off. "Come on, let's go somewhere else." The eldest turtle changed the conversation. To the surprise of the three younger turtles, Leo ran away from them, jumping from the building they were standing on over to another building, and vanished. Donnie and Raph looked at each other with confused looks, while Mikey began to eat the last few slices of pizza.

"I don't know Raph," Donnie began. "Doesn't he seem a bit strange lately?" "Splinter found him lying in the sewer yesterday when we went out," Raph noted. "I overheard them talking about what happened, but Leo didn't tell Splinter anything. He said he didn't remember anything that happened." "I had checked him over too," the genius turtle began. "He didn't have any bruises or broken bones, which he could've had if he had fallen from that height."

"You think we should keep an eye on him?" the red masked turtle asked. "Maybe," Donnie sighed, putting his hand up to his chin. "We better follow him. Otherwise Splinter will kill us when he finds out that Leo…" The realization hit the two turtles instantly. Leo had just ran away from them! "We gotta find him!" Raph exclaimed. Both turtles began to run in the direction of their oldest brother. Mikey however, was still munching on the pizza.

"Mikey! Come on!" the red masked turtle yelled to his youngest brother. He grabbed his brother by the tails of his mask and began to drag him away. "Ahh!" He cried out. "My Piz-saw!"

Leonardo ran across the city rooftops at great speeds. He had left his brothers in his dust a long time ago. However, there was something else that he was more focused on at the moment. What said thing was Leo couldn't tell. But the eldest turtle realized that it was important and could not be left alone.

"You left your brothers behind about a mile back," Kurama stated, but also chuckled at the same time, joking about how fast the turtle could. Leo hadn't really gone a mile. However, the fact that he left his brothers behind in the dust worried the kitsune. And unfortunately, the blue masked turtle just caught onto the thought. He had just ran away from his brother!

'Oh no,' he thought, a scared look now appearing on his face. What would his brothers think!? He stopped at the edge of a building, waiting for his brothers to catch up. Fortunately for him, they weren't that far behind. His brothers caught up to him, panting in exhaustion at how fast their oldest brother could run. "Leo...what the...heck man...you left us...behind," Raph panted. Leo's cheeks flushed up in embarrassment. He put his hand on his head. "Sorry about that," he admitted.

They all looked over the side of the building for a little bit. "It's getting late you know," Kurama noted. Leo looked up at the moon which was high in the sky. 'We might as well head back. Besides, I need sleep for Shishigami's training tomorrow.' "Alright guys, it's getting late. We should probably head back home." As on cue, his younger brothers groaned in disappointment. "Lame…" Mikey groaned. All of them turned away from the edge until Donnie noticed something.

"Guys, look at that!" he caught their attention, pointing to something. The other three turtles turned around. There were two humans walking along the sidewalk. One of them was a middle aged man with red hair, wearing a brown coat and tan pants. The other, was a young teenage girl with red hair, wearing a yellow t-shirt and jeans. Something about the girl caught Leo's attention.

'She looks familiar,' Leo noted. 'And yet I've never seen her in my life. Why does it look like I've seen her?' "If you ask me, she reminds me too much of my previous jinchuriki," the kitsune scoffed. "Minus the blue eyes. But she looks too strikingly familiar." Leo turned his attention to Donnie, who looked like he had become lovestruck. "And it looks like your brother has taken interest." 'You've got to be kidding me…'

"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," Donnie said. The eldest turtle wanted to scoff in disgust at that, knowing full well that the girl would never accept his brother even if he tried. "Isn't she the only girl you've ever seen?" Raph stated. The purple masked turtle blushed in embarrassment. He then straightened himself, trying to look tall and proud. "My point still stands," he said.

The screeching of a vehicle caught Leo's attention, as he looked down to the street. A white van had just pulled in front of the two humans. The back of it opened, and Kurama gasped when he saw what came out. Four humans that looked surprisingly similar to each other, and to the strange men fifteen years ago. "It's them," Kurama scowled. 'Are those the…' "Same men that ended up mutating you and your brothers and the rat? Yes."

"Wha..What is this?" The middle aged man asked, as the four men began to close in on them. The teen looked scared, her eyes widening in fear as she clenched her father's arm tighter. 'I have a bad feeling about this,' Leo thought. "What do I do?' "We gotta save them!" Donnie said. His three brothers looked at him like he was crazy.

"He is right," the giant fox stated. "Both of us know the consequences when messing with those 'humans.'" 'Splinter's going to kill me when he finds out about this,' Leo said to the fox. "Who cares about the rat!" Kurama shouted. "Dealing with those men down there is more important! Or have you forgotten what they were about to do to my own dimension?"

"Are you crazy Donnie?" Raph said to him. "They're humans! Who cares about them! Come on Leo, Mikey." He turned around, only to see his older brother was gone. "Leo?" The three brothers looked around for their brother. Donnie looked down to where he saw the teen and her father, and saw Leo running towards the strange men. "Down there!" he yelled. "Come on!" the purple masked turtle ran towards the beginning of a battle, with Mikey and Raph following behind.

(3) Leo flew forward towards one of the men, who was just about to grab the girl. He kicked him away, only to slightly wince afterward. 'Ow!' The turtle cried out mentally. 'That did not feel real at all!' "Metal?" The fox inquired. 'Maybe, but I don't know. It could still be a human.' "Stay away!" Leo shouted at him. The human however, showed no injury of the previous kick to the face, cracked his knuckles and ran at the turtle.

'Something's not right here,' he said to Kurama. "Go!" He said, turning to the young teen. She looked at him with fright, but her eyes softened, and she ran. The eldest turtle turned his attention back to the man, and then ran at him. They had each other in a deadlock. "Swipe the legs!" Kurama called out. The turtle then swung his leg at the man's leg, hoping it would knock him down. Unfortunately it didn't work, as Leo once again felt the same feeling when he tried to kick him in the face earlier.

'Oh no,' he realized. The man punched him in the stomach, causing Leo to go flying back. He landed on the ground, but managed to regain his balance. A few seconds later, Leo narrowly avoided bumping into Raph. "Hey watch it!" He yelled in anger at his older brother. Well at least he knew now that his brothers had joined the fray.

He glanced over at Donnie, who was fighting another man. He swung his Bo staff into the chest area of the human, only nothing happened. There was no reaction from the man. Instead, he just punched him back. 'I'm starting to think that these guys aren't human,' he mentally noted. Once again, Leo ran after the man he was fighting earlier, now with his two katana swords unsheathed. He jumped towards the man, blade ready to swing, when to his surprise, the man caught the blade!

'Definitely not human!' Leo realized with fear. Shock and fear filled him as the man could not only withstand his blade, but also hold him up. He tossed Leo to the side, the turtle landing on the street on his side. This time it hurt much more. The turtle looked up from the ground, now seeing the human pointing his katana blades at him. But before he could do anything, the man turned his attention to the human girl and Donnie, who was trying to reassure her. Unfortunately for him, Mikey whacked him with his nunchucks by accident, and then was also kicked in the gut by the man that Leo had faced earlier, sending both Donnie and Mikey flying back.

Leo got to his feet, now seeing the van starting up, and seeing the girl now having her mouth covered in tape. The van doors then shut her in, as the white van began to drive away. "They're getting away! They got the girl!" Donnie exclaimed. The purple masked turtle then put his Bo staff back where it was, and began to run as fast as he could to keep up with the van. 'I'm going after them,' he stated. 'I have a very bad feeling about this.'

He began to follow the van, his speed drastically increasing by the second. In a flash he past Donnie, still trying to keep up with the van. "Head for the rooftops!" the fox shouted. "You won't be seen from up there. You can land an attack from up above." Heeding Kurama's advice, Leo swiftly made his way towards a fire escape, climbing up it. Once he reached the top of the building, he followed the van's course. The vehicle was getting faster and faster, and the turtle was slowly losing it.

"Do it," Kurama stated. "Your brothers are not nearby. I do not sense them nearby. You're going to need the strength to reach that van." Immediately Leo began the signs. Dog. Boar. Ram. A puff of smoke engulfed the turtle, and when it cleared, a lion raced out. With his lion form now unleashed, he was now keeping up with the van. The lion raced slightly ahead of it, and waited for the perfect moment.

'3...2...1...NOW!' That was when he jumped. Leo soared off the building into the sky. He aimed his body towards the van. In a second, he landed perfectly on the roof. Then Leo released the jutsu, knowing that he didn't want these humans to see his true strength. The now humanoid turtle took out one of his swords and began to jab the roof of the van, hoping that it would create an opening.

"Duck!" Kurama's voice shouted. On instinct, Leo ducked his head down, just barely dodging a pink colored plasma energy beam whiz by his head. He looked up to where the source of it came from, only to stare in shock. Standing on the roof of the van wasn't one of the humans, it was a robot! It had glowing pink eyes with a silver body and...was that a brain in its stomach area?

'WHAT IS THAT?!' Leo thought. Before he could even ask anything about whatever this thing was, he could see that it was holding some sort of weapon. The source of the pink laser from earlier. Leo noticed that the weapon the robot was holding was beginning to charge up. 'Oh no…' he sighed. "Let go you idiot!" the fox shouted.

'Why?!' he asked. 'If I let go, the van's going to get away!' "Would you rather get shot or live?" 'It probably doesn't hurt that much right?!' As he said that, the robot fired the weapon at his arm. "AHHHHHH!" Leo cried out in pain. "Kraang must eliminate that which is known as turtle," it said. 'Kraang?' he thought. Once again, the robot, or Kraang, began to charge up the weapon it was holding.

"Let go NOW!" the kitsune yelled. Finally taking his advice, Leo let go of the van, just before he got hit a second time from the blaster. He slid back and fell off the roof. The turtle tumbled to the ground, rolling over as he hit the black pavement of the road. The van then picked up speed, leaving poor Leonardo in its wake of dust. It sped away out of sight. Finally the turtle stopped on the pavement on his side, breathing heavily. (3!)

Leo got up and looked around, only to see the van leave his sight. He growled in frustration and anger, teeth becoming sharp like they were in his lion form as he slammed his fist on the ground, which surprisingly didn't hurt his hand but make a crack in the ground. His eyes widened in fear at the damage he made, so he swiftly made his way towards a dark alleyway. Once Leo knew he was out of sight, he sunk to ground, shell leaned up against the brick wall. He clenched his arm, now trying to cover up the wound before more blood came out of it.

Suddenly, a red bubbly substance came out of his arm. It engulfed the wound around his arm, as well as a few other scratches he had gotten from his tumble from the van. Leo knew what this substance was. It was Kurama's chakra. The turtle had found out a few years back that because he was the fox's jinchuriki, he had enhanced healing. However, this could happen through Kurama healing the turtle himself, which required him to send his chakra outside of Leo's body. The fox did this only when Leo had a serious injury, to make it look like the turtle wasn't drastically hurt.

Kurama's chakra ate away at the wound, beginning to heal it. The scratches began to disappear from his body, and the wound that was made from the laser was slowly starting to close. Finally, it closed completely, looking as if he had never been injured to begin with. The red chakra then went back into the turtle's body. 'Thank you Kurama,' he mentally said to the fox. "Heh, you're welcome," the fox replied.

The turtle sat there in silence for a few minutes. 'I wish I could've done more Kurama,' Leo said to the fox. 'If only I was stronger. If only I wasn't so afraid…' "You and I both know why I didn't begin to teach you more jutsu until now," Kurama began. "It would've been too hard to hide your strength." 'That's not what I mean,' Leo said. 'If only I hadn't been afraid of myself…'

'I didn't want them to see me in my lion form, and it ended up in them getting away. Back there, I left a crack in the ground. I was beginning to feel more like my lion self than what I was. I just...felt so scared. It's my fault they got away.' A few tears escaped his eyes, as he scrunched up his knees towards him, hugging them and letting his head rest on them.

A few seconds later, he felt soft orange fur against his body. He looked up, now noticing that he was in his mindscape once again. Kurama brushed his tail against the turtle's body. Leo latched onto the large orange tail, finding comfort in the fur as he always had since he was younger. He looked up at the giant fox, sadness emanating from his eyes. Kurama barely had any experience in these types of situations.

"Do not blame yourself," Kurama said to him. "What happened back there was the past. We'll get the girl back." Leo wiped away his tears, a smile now forming on his face. Kurama too, had a smile forming on his face. "Believe me, you did more that I would've done. I wouldn't have risked my life in the first place." Leo stood up, leaving the comfy orange fur behind.

"We know a few things now," Leo began. "The reason why the men were after those humans must be linked to why we were mutated 15 years ago. Then there was that weird...thing calling itself Kraang." "My guess is that this Kraang, is a race of aliens. The robotic body you saw may also be those men that you fought earlier, as well as the men I saw those years ago," Kurama suggested. "So you're saying that the men we fought earlier could just be aliens in disguise?" Leo questioned. The fox nodded.

"I better head back," he said. "The guys are going to wonder where I am, and why I haven't come back yet." Immediately he left his mindscape, returning to the real world. He got up and looked down at the ground, noticing a manhole cover. 'Perfect,' he thought. Leo lifted the manhole cover, and climbed into the sewer, and carefully set the cover back on. He climbed down the ladder and began to run towards his home.

'Sensei's going to kill me when I get home…'

Author's Note

That's the end of Chapter 3! Alright let's get into some stuff!

I decided to end it before the guys get lectured by Splinter. This is cause I don't want to drag the chapter on for too long. The beginning of the series is a two part episode, so I'm still hoping to keep it two parts, just to not drag it on. I'm throwing in some noncanon stuff of course, so that's also gonna be in there. I decided to skip the beginning fight scene just cause I didn't really feel like it should be in there.

Those of you who wonder why Leo has a mini fridge, well you'll find out eventually. As for the other stuff in his room, that'll come out eventually as well. I really can't say much else XD

Lastly, tell me what you guys think! I love reviews! I really appreciate all the support on the last chapter! It means a lot!

Hmmm is Leo losing control?

Anyways, until next time, See Ya Universe!

Palkia