TITLE: Hamato Karai 4
AUTHOR: Jinn-Jinn
DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Quite poor. Don't sue.
NOTE: Time to shake things up a bit, don't you think?

Karai hated herself right now, and for that reason she hated Leonardo.

At the Foot dojo, her eyes couldn't help but stray over to where the latest editions of ninjas were practicing on the mat. Among them was one; darkly handsome and broad at the shoulders with a narrow waist and a firm ass. His eyes briefly met hers and she looked away, feeling the faint stirrings of desire.

Last year Karai would've simply invited the man into her bed, and used him as she pleased until she grew weary of him. She had done it to other men countless times and they never protested when cast aside. They didn't dare as she was their superior who could easily eliminate them should they decide to cause trouble. Now however, she was married and though she still refuses to admit that she is happy about it, she couldn't deny the pleasure of her husband's touch.

As she headed out of the dojo, she took one last look at the man and swore under her breath when he removed his tunic as he headed to the showers. The man was all muscle, flawless and for a moment, Karai wished her was marriage ill. Then she wouldn't feel so bad should she take this man to bed.

That was the problem with her marriage; there was hardly a problem. Leonardo was a most considerate, loving husband. He was a gentlemen right down to his toenails. His love making only improved with time and she ached for him just as much as before. Foregoing the fact that he was a mutant turtle, Karai had a man that would make her the envy of all the women in New York.

And right now he was the only thing standing between her and that ninja.

Karai resisted the urge to glower and decided to meditate her unwanted thoughts away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the day passed on, Karai found herself in her office mulling over paperwork. A secret order of ninjas the Foot clan might be, but they were also a business and it required paperwork to get things working smoothly. Usually she loathed doing them, but today they proved to be just the thing to distract her. All she wanted to do was finish here and go home, find Leonardo, beat the crap out of him, then screw him into the bed afterwards. Or maybe have him in the shower. Lord, he was fantastic in the shower. Her body grew hot and plait just thinking about it and she had to stop to take a breath so she can concentrate again.

Sometimes she hated her body. She glanced at the phone nearby and briefly, very briefly considered calling him before ruthlessly driving the idea out of her mind. Married they were, but there was no way she was going to allow this office, formerly her father's, to be desecrated by his enemy, especially like that!

The sun was starting to set, soon she would almost be done with her work, then she can finally head home free and clear. That was until there was a knock on the door and in came the ninja who tempted her badly all day.

Never had Karai felt like she did right now and she didn't really want to put a name to it as she hurried back home. Leonardo had to be there. He had to be.

The house was dark and she went in she was met with only a breeze.

'Coward!' Her mind howled. She was going to kill him! How dare he run from this? By God she was going to find him and drag him back to confront this matter. No way was she going to let *him* end it this way. If anyone was going to end it *she* was and when she was good and ready too…

This wasn't even supposed to happen. Karai was so close from calling it a day when that devilish ninja entered her office. She was wound too tight and he was far too close to resist. The next thing she knew his hands were all over her. His muscles were firm under her hands, his skin soft and warm. It all felt so good…until he tried to kiss her and then his hands slipped under her clothes. Something happened then that had never happened before; her skin actually crawled.

As quickly as it began, it ended. She pushed the man off, threatening to kill him if he so much as breathed a word of what happened to anyone. As soon as the man left, she downed a cup of nearby tea and tried to regain her focus.

She had done nothing wrong; she had stopped it before it got out of hand. She lost no honor. No one will ever, ever know.

Karai looked up at the window and was met with Leonardo's gaze.

Leonardo stared at the TV blankly, and not surprisingly, found himself unable to concentrate. He came to the lair to think, but found his mind crowded with the image of that man and his wife. It made him sick inside; it also made him angry.

He had gone to the Foot Headquarters in order to invite Karai for a night run around the city only to find her yielding to the touch of another man. The sight hit him like an invisible blow and not even her sudden rejection of the man soothed the pain that had spread inside. When her eyes met his, he knew at that moment that he couldn't deal with it. He felt like a coward leaving before anything could be said, but this was a fight he was completely untrained for.

That was why he was at the lair and not at home. He still wasn't ready to face what he had seen and he definitely wasn't ready for what she might say. Terror, anger, confusion and devotion warred with each other. A fear also grew within him, one that he had managed to smother with the passing of time, yet now grew anew.

He may be great ninja, a good friend, a loyal brother and a devoted son, but was he enough of a man?

He always felt lacking in the male department. He barely reached 5'3", 80% of his body was hard shell, he had unnatural wide lips, he had three broad fingers in each hand and he was green. He never thought himself handsome and before, he tried not to indulge in thoughts about women and relationships because he knew it was a hopeless, lost cause.

Then he met Karai and his heart robbed him of that choice.

He did not know why he let it happen, so many things stood between him and her. The attraction to her was so strong it just couldn't be denied. While his brothers dreamt of gorgeous, full-figured American girls, his dreams were occupied with images of the graceful Japanese beauties he had heard about in Splinter's stories. Karai was as beautiful as a Japanese woman could get, and that was what worried him. She was beautiful enough to get any man she wanted and any man with at least one working eye would be happy to persue her, married or not. How could he stop her from seeking another? Was he man enough to give her what she needed? Why wasn't he enough!

The questions just whirled in his head until he could get no peace. There was only one way to end this doubt.

"Hey Leo!"

The outburst snapped Leonard out of his maddening thoughts. He blinked and peered up at Donatello.

"Its getting late. Aren't you going to go home?"

Leo wanted to say no but decided against it. He hasn't slept in the lair for a near year now, having always insisted on going back to Karai. For him to suddenly decide to stay here and not go back would immediately rouse suspicion and he didn't want his family to become involved in this. Raphael would be more than happy to drive the wedge between them further.

"Sorry, I blanked out. Uh, yeah. I'm going home." He replied, rising stiffly from the sofa.

Donatello eyed him curiously and Leo stifled the urge to squirm by putting his swords back on.

"Is everything okay with you and Karai?" He asked.

Leo mentally cursed his brother's intuition. "Yeah….We kind of had a small fight today, but its fixable." He replied. It was a semi-truth, so he didn't feel too guilty about it.

"Well, all couples have their spats. You two got level heads, I'm sure you're right." Donnie agreed. "Good night then. See you later."

"Good night Don." He said while heading out.

As he made his way out of the sewers he wondered what his next move would be. The idea of simply wandering the rooftops of New York seemed very appealing, but he knew it wasn't the right thing to do. His conscious was already nagging, poking and prodding him homeward. He had to face his fears and talk to Karai. It wasn't going to be pretty. Emotions will have to be exposed, words will be twisted and voices might rise. Chances of a physical fight were likely.

Leo could already feel his brow ridge twitch. It was going to be a long night.

To Be Continued…..Obviously.