I hope you've liked chapters 1-3. I am trying my hardest to make this my best fic so far. I'd like to thank Tsunami-dono and R2ninjaturtle for the reviews. You guys rock!

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Taro stood up and looked back at the turtles. They stared at each other silently. Seconds seemed like minutes in the awkward silence. Taro stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Stop looking at me like that!" He yelled scowling. The turtles jumped back at his sudden outburst. "Is this your first contact with another person?"

"Sorry. We didn't mean to stare," Donnie apologized sheepishly. Taro's expression changed instantly.

"Ah it's alright. The silence was killing me, so I had to end it," He smiled.

"I'm glad someone did. So, who be you?" Mikey asked smiling. Taro chuckled at Mikey's silliness. Leo remained on guard. This new comer could be an enemy, or not. It's better to be safe then sorry. Raph had a firm grip on his sai. He didn't trust him any more than Leo did. The difference between them was: Leo would give the benefit of a doubt.

"Name's Taro. And you?" Taro smiled at them. R2 stared at him blankly. She didn't know what to think. She examined his figure with her eyes. Taro was slim and a little short. He looked about five foot six or so from a distance. He had thick dark brown hair that was held in a low ponytail. Shadows from his long bangs prevented her from deciphering his eye color. Oddly, he had only four fingers on each hand. Taro's skin seemed to be different shades of brown in different spots on his face. That also seemed quite strange. He wore dark blue cargos with tan pockets. The black hoodie he wore had the word 'NINJ4' across the chest. R2 noticed the weapons he carried also. A pair of Kama hung behind him attached to the belt that held up his pants. The sheath of a sword was attached to his back. The sword itself was gone.

"Maybe he lost it," R2 wondered. A brown pouch, also attacked to his belt, caught her eye. It looked the right size to hold a few shuriken or something else small. She shook her head back into reality.

"I'm Mikey. These are my bros Leo, Don, Raph, and my sis R2," Mikey said wrapping his arm around R2's neck. She growled quietly. Raph glared at Taro suspiciously.

"Nice to meet you," Taro bowed. Leo sheathed his katana and approached him.

"Who was that you were fighting?" He asked. Taro looked down for a moment.

"You know there's someone to our left aiming arrows at us right?" He whispered casually. He looked up at Leo, who sighed.

"Yea I noticed. They're Foot ninja," He took one of his katana and 'inspected' it.

"How many do you see?" Taro asked.

"About twenty-four on the front line. There are probably two or three backup lines," The other turtles were confused by Taro and Leo's whispers. Curious, Mikey began walking towards them. "Stay where you are Mikey," Leo commanded. Obediently he stopped.

"Let's see, if there are guys to the left, there are bound to be guys to the right," Taro stated quietly. He placed his hands on the handles of his Kama casually to make it seem like it was mere gesturation. Leo handed Taro the katana he was holding. Taro slightly adjusted the blade of his Kama. He looked behind him with the katana and saw other Foot ninja trying to sneak up from behind. Leo did the same in the blade of the Kama.

"Will you help us fight them?" Leo asked. Taro smirked.

"Do you trust me?" he asked hiding his eyes behind his dark brown bangs.

"To some extent," Leo relied taking his katana back and drawing the other. "Guys get ready. We've got company," The other turtles drew their weapons and stood in a circle back to back. (Or shell to shell, either one) Taro stood with them.

"I must protect them if my Shredder is to appear again," He thought. His heart began to pound with anxiety. Taro closed his eyes to calm himself. When he reopened them a few dozen Foot ninja were surrounding them. "I wish Yoshi was here," Taro never fought alone if it was avoidable. While he was protecting the power key he always found a way to run from battle as he was instructed. He heard his father's voice once more.

"It's okay to run sometimes Taro. To protect the key you need to stay alive until backup arrives. If that means you have to run and hide then run and hide. It's not cowardly Taro. It's smart,"

"Calm down kid. These guys are pretty easy to knock down. If you got the skill, you got nothing to worry about," Raph said quietly. Taro blinked.

"I'm not worried," He said in an annoyed tone. Raph snorted.

"So you're shaking out of enthusiasm?" Raphael twirled his sai around his fingers. Taro stared at him through the corner of his eye. His gaze drew Raph's eyes to meet his.

"Perhaps," He said calmly. Raph gave him a strange look. "Arrow," Taro said pointing to a foot soldier that had just fired an arrow towards them, a signal for the battle to commence.

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I know I said I was going to have the turtles take Taro home in this chapter, but I lied. It will be the next chapter though. Promise.

R&R