"Be quiet!" TigerClaw commanded, a growl resonating from the back of his throat as he eyed his followers. Immediately they settled, looking around and idly doing whatever came to mind, everyone avoiding TigerClaw's murderous gaze. The mutant tiger growled, yet nodded in satisfaction as he turned to the streets of New York City, watching both the ground and buildings for any sign of movement, anything that could indicate that of a ninja or kunoichi. He had a plan, one that Shredder had created, but one that he was conducting. It was a plan that TigerClaw was sure wouldn't fail, but even the mutant tiger knew that mistakes were laced into every small detail of everything.

After TigerClaw had given his report, Shredder had sent him out to give him some time to think. A few hours later, an hour before the crack of dawn, Shredder summoned the mutant tiger. At first TigerClaw was worried, nearly frightened by what Shredder might say, but he held his composure and listened instead. Shredder, after hours of thinking and contemplating, had agreed on a plan. A plan that TigerClaw was going to carry out with a few of Shredder's minions. It had taken a long night and day to plan the procedure, but once it was ready, they were set into action. Right now they were still in the first stage: Waiting for any sign or movement of a ninja or kunoichi. Step two would follow immediately after one of them was spotted.

TigerClaw thought hard as he looked around, watching the world that he deemed pathetic pass on. He gave an internal smirk as he thought about how innocent and foolish the people below him could be. They were pathetic things that still had barely any clue as to what was going on in the world. A war had broken loose between two clans, and still no one seemed to notice or take heed of anything. He was amused by this, amused by how simple-minded everyone was. It was a pity, to say the least. The human race could be something more than what it had become, and yet it barely tried to change, to evolve, to help. It seemed surprising that TigerClaw would think these things, saying that he was an enemy to almost everyone and everything, but even he had his moments when he remembered how stupid and careless the world around him was, and what it could become. He cast the ideas and thoughts aside, focusing all his attention on finding the turtles.

Hours passed by. It felt like the night was almost over as the moon started to slowly dip downwards towards the horizon, the last moments until dawn coming to pass. TigerClaw was restless, and now he was upset, almost infuriated. No one had reported any activity of rampant mutants or the turtles that night, and he was angry, furious that this was the case. He had soldiers and guards posted all over the city, wherever they could fit without being suspicious looking, but even that had failed as there wasn't the slightest detail or report. However, as his body language portrayed his anger, his eyes betrayed his true feelings: Fear. The fear of returning to Master Shredder without anything at all, not even a well-based or proven report. His paws clenched and unclenched themselves as he thought long and hard on what he should do, how he could deal with this situation. But nothing came to mind.

"TigerClaw."

The mutant tiger turned around quickly, startling the once well-renounced Chris Bradford. Bradford was nothing more than a twice-over mutated dog known as Rahzar now, who looked weirder than anything a person with a normal life might encounter. Rahzar jumped at TigerClaw's speedy turn, as it caught him off-guard. He sighed inwardly and breathed deeply, gaining composure, and answering the already angry tiger. "TigerClaw, we have nearly thirty minutes until morning. Shredder specifically said we should be back before daybreak." Rahzar reported. TigerClaw's eyes suddenly narrowed and he released a menacing growl that was rare to him. Rahzar, still having the same stubbornness as his human-self, Bradford, refused to back down, knowing that he had spoken the already known truth. Still, this only made TigerClaw even angrier, a dangerous fire in his eyes.

"I know damn well that daybreak is nearly here, Rahzar! What do you take me for?! An imbecile like you who has barely a clue about the real thing in front of him?! I think not, dog!" TigerClaw roared, his retractable claws coming out from his pure hatred. TigerClaw had always hated Rahzar with a passion, saying that Rahzar, still obtaining some of his humanity, was still as stubborn as Bradford, and saying that they were like night and day. TigerClaw believed in doing what was needed and destroying his enemies, gaining revenge. Rahzar, however, toyed with his sense of danger, destroying his enemies painfully slowly, resulting in many a failed mission. It was still no wonder how Rahzar had been mutated again, turning into the horrid beast he was now. "Leave me! I need none of your complaints or unneeded concerns!" TigerClaw said justly, turning back to the setting full moon. He could hear the anger snarl from Rahzar before the soft padding of his feet replaced it, the sound growing distant as he walked away.

The mutant tiger sighed as he watched the setting moon, fear clear in his yellow eyes. He had only an hour left to find any of the turtles, the female turtle in particular, before he had to return to Shredder. He prayed sincerely to his spiritual ancestors, hoping to return to Shredder with the news he wanted, and not to, instead, get mauled by the Shredder's sudden hatred towards him. The clock was ticking, and as it did TigerClaw started losing hope. If he didn't get anything soon, he might as well be pronounced dead. Shredder would kill him the moment the news got around that TigerClaw had failed such a simple mission. Shredder would personally slit his throat and hang his body on display, letting others know that to come back to Shredder with so many failed missions would result in your own, mortifying death.

"TigerClaw! TigerClaw!"

TigerClaw jumped at the voice as he was pulled out of the dreading thought of his dead body on display for everyone to see and mock. It took him a moment before he realized it was his communicator screaming at him. From the continuous voice, TigerClaw could register the person, or mutant, to be FishFace, another one of Shredder's overconfident minions. FishFace had, at one point, been a human thief named Xhever. He pick-pocketed others and, eventually, turned into a fighter. He was mutated into a fish not long before TigerClaw had arrived to straighten out Shredder's almost untameable recruits. TigerClaw quickly took his communicator out of his back pocket, answering the anxious sounding mutant, "What is it, FishFace?!" TigerClaw demanded.

"I spotted one of them! It's the female turtle, the one you described! She's heading your way and we're hot on her trail!" FishFace announced with pride. TigerClaw himself felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders before he asked which direction she was heading. FishFace had responded with the answer of Southeast. That was headed right for the mutant tiger. TigerClaw was overcome with joy, and to keep that emotion he sent out his troops to organize around where he was at. If the female turtle was coming his way, than he needed to make sure that when she reached him she had nowhere to turn, but to fight if necessary. Suddenly, on the horizon, he saw a cloaked figure heading at their top speed towards him as they, or she, dashed across the rooftops towards him.

Step two was finally being put into action: Fight, Disarm, and Capture.

~ Two Hours Earlier ~

Venus lay on her bed, contemplating what she should do. She had done her chores, she had solved a dilemma between two of her sisters, and she had completed her training. Now she was alone in her room, bored out of her mind, wondering what to do. She lay there for about thirty minutes, staring at her ceiling, her breathing deep and even as if in concentration. Than, at the most random moment, she thought of going out and seeing what the Big Apple was doing. But, at the same time, she pushed the thought out of her head, her mind still reliving her first meeting with Leo. For the whole of last night, the entire day and now this night, Venus hadn't been able to keep the royal blue terrapin out of her head. The image of him was just glued to her brain, and she couldn't get it unstuck.

The turquoise terrapin sighed again, this time deeper, her auburn eyes squeezing shut in concentration. She stayed deep in thought for another ten minutes before the sudden remembrance hit her. The map! She hadn't even thoroughly looked at it yet, only giving it that small glance from last night! She back-flipped off her bed and reached her dresser in a split-second, grabbing the parchment carefully off of the wooden surface. She opened it carefully, mindful of its rips and tears, looking at the map more carefully. Now that her eyes were drinking in the images of New York City in its present-state, she was indeed amazed at the writings and unique landscapes labelled carefully on the ever-expanding map.

Venus sat on her bed, lying on her stomach and resting the map on her sky blue pillow. She toyed with her turquoise scarf as she read and saw everything the paper had to offer her. She lay there for about an hour, just reading and rereading the map over and over, recognizing and marking areas on her new map that were important and/or needed to be patrolled. It was at the end of that hour when her auburn eyes finally looked at the bottom right-hand part of the map. There, written in small, black ink was a name and a number. It took Venus a second to read the Japanese Kanji that the name was written properly in, but when she did it took her a second before she could breathe again. That little print at the bottom of the picture wasn't just anything, no . . . it was Leo's phone number. Something that was completely unexpected.

Venus just stared at the info, reading the phone number over and over, again and again. It took her all her might to finally tear herself away from the writing. She tried to, instead, focus her attention on the actual map, but her eyes would always revert back to the number. After a little while she sighed and gave up trying to not look. Instead, she looked . . . again. She read the number again, memorizing it in her head, before getting up quickly. She wanted to try something. She grabbed her phone off of her desk. It was a Moto E Lite, one of the new ones that her mother, Mina, had sent her. She had accidentally destroyed her last one when her youngest sister had accidentally dropped it off of the tower's highest railing. Venus, pushing back the memory, quickly clicked on her Phone App and dialed in Leo's number. She was about to hit call, but she stopped herself. Should she really do this? Like, maybe his number had changed! Maybe it wasn't his number anymore! Or what if he did answer, but he thought badly of it? What would she do than?!

"Uchimasu... Shita hō ga ī? Īe, kore wa warui kangaede wa arimasen! Shikashi, sore wa nanide wanaidesu ka?" Venus whispered to herself in Japanese, something she only did when she was having an internal struggle between herself. She stared at the phone and rubbed her cheek softly, sighing at the stress she was putting herself through. Was it really this hard to just try? She had never done this before, but if she didn't try, than what would happen? And what if it was a good reaction? She couldn't know unless she tried. With a heavy sigh, Venus pushed the call button. Immediately her phone connected and started to ring. She watched the small words of "dialing", waiting for when the numbers for how long she was talking would show up so she could put the phone to her ear. It was a habit of hers to not put the phone to her ear unless she was actually talking to the person on the other line, which meant waiting anxiously for that person to pick up.

It seemed like an eternity, but, with a shocked expression from the turquoise terrapin, the phone was connected. She put the phone up to her ear quickly. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She couldn't talk anymore, let alone breathe properly. She mentally hit herself for what was happening, but she had no clue as to why her body suddenly didn't want to work anymore. There was no explanation to it, and it was killing her that there wasn't, especially saying that she may be ruining her chances at the very moment with not just simply saying "hi". Thankfully, the person on the other end of the line seemed to realize this.

"Hello?"

Venus's heart skipped a beat. She had only heard that voice once last night, but she had already memorized it. That was Leo alright, no doubt to that. There was a sudden silence. At first Venus seemed to still not be functioning right, and she was getting frustrated at it. It was just Leo! What was the problem?! What the hell was going on with her right now?! She had called to say hi, and maybe even chat, but that wasn't even happening because of her being a total idiot!

"Hi." Venus finally breathed out. She flinched at her voice. The poor thing was squeaky and high, barely even operating correctly. But, at the least, she had gotten her voice to work. Maybe not in the best way, but enough to actually get something out. She breathed deeply, calming herself somewhat, hoping that the next time she talked would be better. Until then, she waited. She heard shuffling and breathing from the other side, and for a second she thought that Leo just didn't want to answer. But, after a minute, Leo said some words that made Venus feel a little special.

"Venus?" Leo asked, his voice having the clear tone of being astounded and bewildered. Venus lit up at his guess, and she answered a quick, cheerful yes . She heard a chuckle from the other side, her own little giggle ringing out. Venus knew that it hadn't been that funny, but the only reason why she and Leo were laughing was because of all the awkwardness and nervousness that lingered between them. The conversation had started awkward, the "hi" gesture had been awkward, and even the laughing from both ends of the phone line had an awkward sense to it. However, whenever a teenage girl and teenage guy have ever talked to each other, it's always had an awkward atmosphere to it. Saying that Leo and Venus had also just met last night was even more awkward as well, as they barely knew each other. But what other way was the best way to get to know someone without talking to them, right?

"Wow, um, it's great to hear from you, even though I just met you last night. Either way, how are you?" Leo chuckled, earning a small, quiet giggle from Venus.

"I'm alright. How are you?" Venus replied as she lay on her back, stretching as she talked. At least they were starting off with a good ice-breaker.

"I'm fine. So, um, how did you get my number?"

"Well, funny thing is is that . . . well . . . it was on the map you gave me."

"Oh, well . . . that explains that. I guess I forgot about putting it on there, huh? I'm forgetting everything."

"You're not the only one. I feel like my head is scattered everywhere right now, what with all the stress I'm going through? Ugh!"

"Hehe, tell me about it! Hey, um, I know this might sound weird, but, do you wanna hang out? I've got, like, nothing to do and it would be nice to get to talk and know you in person."

"Wait, really?" Venus bolted up at Leo's request. She had expected for Leo to talk to her over the phone, but she hadn't expected him to ask to see her. Not that she didn't mind it, it was just a surprise was all! Venus gave a small giggle at her nostalgia before answering, "Sure! Just, where are we gonna meet up at?" Venus questioned.

"How about . . . hmm . . . do you know where Antonio's Pizza is at?" Leo questioned.

"Yeah, I know where Antonio's is at. Wanna meet there?" Venus asked, even though she already knew the answer to that question. Leo answered with a quick yes and, after a little more of talking, they both said farewell. Venus, after hanging up and saving Leo's number in her Contacts, jumped off her bed, strapped on her gear and grabbed her cloak. She stashed her phone and the map in her back belt pocket and exited her room, closing the door softly behind her. For all she knew her sister's could be asleep right now, and they didn't need to know about where she was going or about her intentions. They could keep their noses out of it.

She silently moved across the living area. It was a large area that fit, of course, perfectly inside the tower. The kitchen had one wall separating it from the living room, the dining room connecting to the kitchen. The sisters' bedrooms were all on one wall, each door being painted the same color as the female's mask that lived in there. There was a modern sized TV in the living room, connected to the wall by Venus's younger sister, Daniella. It had taken the smart sister only a few measly minutes and than Maleigha, the youngest, had been on the TV in a flash with Rarity, the second oldest, to watch in amusement. That had been so long ago though that Venus had the memory barely remembered. She had more important things to memorize either way, so that memory was fading fast.

Venus had reached the door, her hand on the knob. She waited. She could've stepped out then and there, but she thought she had heard something. It had been a gentle creak, like the one that an old, rusted door might make. Knowing her home inside and out, Venus knew that the only doors that squeaked on their hinges were the bedroom doors. The bathroom door had made the sound at one point, but due to it being so loud, Daniella had fixed it. The bedrooms doors had been left alone for some reason, even though Daniella had said she would take care of it. But right now Venus listened and waited. The silence was deafening, and the moonlight streaming in from the large windows that made up one side of the tower made the silence even more unbearable. She was as plain as day right now, and yet she was still a shadow. Her figure still blended in perfectly to the shadows that lingered and danced where the moon could not shine, and she danced with them. However, that didn't stop her from getting caught.

"Venus, what are you doing? Don't you know what time it is?"

The turquoise masked female turned around to meet her youngest sister, her auburn eyes meeting the ocean blue ones of her little sister, Maleigha. She was the shortest out of all the girls, but she was no less the intriguing teenager. She was the most energetic and crazed out of the sisters', and her skills showed no bounds when it came to her partying skills and her Ninjitsu skills. That was shown especially when she wielded her Tonfa, a weapon with handles that could be wielded for both extra offense and defense. The type of Tonfa Maleigha wielded was a Tonfa that, where the ordinary wood was, was replaced with long, thin blades that had sharp edges and curves. There was no true name besides a simple, "Bladed Tonfa". Her tangerine hair poked out from two side of the back of her head, none on her crown. They were braided to make two braids, having both an out-of-the-way and yet childish look to them, making Maleigha all the more adorable. She had a tangerine mask that had the same curve and design as Venus's. Her Ocean Blue eyes usually had a sparkling, energetic look to them, but from the present, tired look of the young sister's form, Venus could safely assume she was more tired than not. The frequent yawns helped to further prove this to the eldest sister.

"I'm just going out for a little bit is all. I need some fresh air. Besides, I couldn't sleep." Venus answered quietly, keeping her voice down so that her other sister's wouldn't hear her. Knowing her sister's, Rarity would be knocked unconscious right now, her activities during the day having destroyed all her energy. Daniella, however, seemed to work on an endless stream of iced and hot coffee. It seemed that she never slept unless she absolutely had to, and even than she only slept for a few hours before she was in her lab again doing research, building, and just being a brainiac in general. If Daniella came out here than all of Venus's hopes and chances to go meet Leo would be down the drain in no time.

"But I thought you went out just . . . last . . . mmm . . . night." Maleigha stated, her sentence broken up from her frequent yawns. Venus smiled at her sister. Maleigha could be clueless and sometimes even not in reality at times, but she was still smart in her own little way. She watched as Maleigha stretched suddenly, her body stretching past its limits before it relaxed again. Maleigha seemed even more tired now because of that one thing. Before Venus could answer her sister, Maleigha asked again, "Why are you going . . . out?"

"I just need air and time alone. You know how much I hate being stuck in one place. Besides, everyone needs their time, and I haven't really gotten any today." Venus answered, her hands coming to rest on her hips as she looked down on her sister. As much as she was deceiving her little sister into letting her go out, she was also telling the truth. Throughout the whole day Venus had been doing chores, training until she dropped, and tending to the many problems that aroused in her family. She hadn't had any time to herself as of late and she needed her space right about now. She needed her time to do what she wanted, of course within its restricted boundaries, and to just be herself. Besides, Venus had always hated being stuck in one place for too long. It's not that her world was moving fast, it was just the fact that she wanted new things and new experiences. Staying put in one place was not how she was going to get those things.

Maleigha stared at her oldest sister for sometime, her ocean blue eyes staring into Venus's auburn ones. Venus sighed and shifted. She knew what Maleigha was doing. Maleigha, as childish and care-free as she might be, had the uncanny ability to be able to stare into a person's eyes and see the truth. It was something that the sister's had learned to be aware of when they were kids, saying that whatever they did was found out by Maleigha and her concentrated focus on their eyes. Even now Maleigha could still find the truth behind their eyes, as long as she had a perfect look into them, sometimes even a glance. She didn't do it often, thankfully, but when she did it sent chills around the entire room. "Hmm . . . alright." Maleigha said tiredly, her ocean blue eyes releasing their stare at Venus's. She gave a quick stretch, another long and well-needed yawn before finally yielding to her needed sleep. She bid Venus a small, quiet good night before she headed to her room. Venus watched as Maleigha, the tired little thing she was right now, opened her door and disappeared into her room, the door giving a soft click as it shut.

Venus smiled warmly at seeing her sister so persistent. Maleigha wasn't the one with a strong attention span, but when it came to her sister's Maleigha knew when she needed to be ready and prepared. It was something Venus secretly congratulated the youngest sister for, saying she had the shortest attention span she ever knew anyone of having. She waited a few minutes, listening for anyone or anything else. When their was nothing she gave a small, unheard sigh before she continued on what she was doing. She hooded herself, Venus becoming a shadow in the late-midnight hour, and waited once more. Again, there was nothing. Than, with a small little noise, one barely heard, she opened the door and was gone into the night.

~ The Lair ~

Leo had just hung up with Venus and brought himself out of his meditation position to get ready for "patrol". He had agreed to meet her on the rooftop of Antonio's Pizza Place, where he and his brothers bought almost all of their pizza from until as of late, saying that he turned into a human-eating pizza mutant. Now they got their pizza from a small corner that was just a few blocks away from them. Leo didn't know the actual name as he never actually looked at the box or called the pizza place to get the pizza, he merely ate it.

Leo had just finished gearing up, tightening his shoulder straps and readjusting them to fit him. He had his T-Phone and his map in his back pocket and his Katanas in their sheaths, saying that he had to go out in a little bit to do his side of the city for patrol. His other brothers, excluding Mikey, were probably already getting their patrols done. The youngest brother, however, was probably with Ice Cream Kitty, doing something ridiculous that would end in disaster. He sighed, preparing himself, mentally, for when Raph would lose his temper on Mikey . . . again. However, he didn't want to think on that now. All he wanted to think about was going to see Venus and maybe, just maybe, doing a patrol with her. It'd been a while since he had had a partner or just plain anybody do patrol with him. True, doing it solo got the job done a lot faster, but it wasn't too bad when you had someone next to you, accompanying you as you did a thankless job.

Leo, geared and ready for patrol, headed out. He closed his door softly behind him, knowing Splinter would be in meditation right now, and walked to the entrance of the Lair. As Leo had already guessed, Mikey was in the kitchen messing around with Ice Cream Kitty. The royal blue masked ninja sighed. He would probably have to do Mikey's patrol area as well, but, it didn't matter. For one thing, Mikey would be taught a lesson for letting his duties go undone and letting someone else do them for him. For seconds, Leo would have Venus most likely with him anyway. The situation wasn't too bad. Maybe for Mikey it was, saying he would be given a fitting punishment by Master Splinter, but for Leo, well, maybe his night would get better after all. And with that, Leo was gone into the sewers and into the midnight hours of New York City.

Leo ran for what felt like only a few minutes, but that he knew took longer. Antonio's wasn't exactly far from where he had emerged from, so it had only taken maybe ten minutes for him to get there. However, when he did get there, there was no sign of Venus anywhere. Leo thought for a moment, wondering what he could do. For one thing, he would wait maybe ten minutes or so for Venus. If she didn't arrive by then, well, he would have to get on with patrol. Until then he could think, ponder, have a few minutes to himself before he wasn't alone again. With that in mind Leo sat down behind an air vent, crossed his legs, rested his forearms on his thighs, closed his eyes, and waited. He knew how to keep track of time in his head, having had to multitask at a young age to train and morph his mind into that of a leader's.

Six or seven minutes passed before he heard the soft, almost nonexistent sound of someone landing on the rooftop. His stormy blue eyes opened and he stood up, carefully. He still needed to be cautious, just in case this wasn't actually Venus. A ninja was always self-conscious and aware of both the consequences and rewards of his actions, and Leo, knowing that Shredder's henchmen and the Kraang were everywhere, knew that this was a definite thing to remember. He carefully peaked out from behind the air unit and there, in the moonlight was . . . no one. Leo blinked in confusion, looking again, more closely this time, to see if there was anything in the shadows. Yet again, there was nothing. Leo was confused. He could've sworn he had heard someone land on the rooftop, and there had been no other noises of movement to signify that the person or thing had gone. Was he sincerely losing his mind from all this stress?

Before Leo got the chance to ponder his sanity loss, something, he had no clue as to what it was, grabbed his sides and squeezed. He gave a small scream of surprise and jumped, nearly losing his balance and almost falling face-first onto the concrete rooftop. Before that he steadied himself, locking his feet in place and rebalancing himself before standing up straight, regaining composure. He blushed out how easily he had been surprised, how simple it had been for whomever it was to sneak up on him and nearly scare him out of his shell. He sighed, realizing how bad his skills had gotten . . . but, why? And how? How and why were his skills so rusty, especially saying that he had just done a perfect patrol last night? He needed work . . . no, he needed sanity.

"Did I scare you?"

Leo smiled and sighed at the voice. He had that voice, the sweetness of it, memorized in his mind already. He turned around and was met with the turquoise masked female. She smiled at him, a hint of playfulness and laughter in her auburn eyes. Her cloak concealed most of her teenage body, the female terrapin a true shadow of the night. She definitely knew how to move around and sense when someone was nearby, saying that Leo hadn't been in her line of sight when she had landed on the rooftop and that she had been hidden perfectly before Leo had gotten even the slightest chance to see her. She knew how to blend in, how to become a hidden figure that was silent and deadly. Like a kunoichi . . . a skilled kunoichi at that.

"Hahaha. Yes, Venus, yes you did scare me. You feeling proud of yourself?" Leo teased, receiving a giggle and smile from her. Leo smiled back. He was relieved. At first, when he had been making his way to the rooftop of the pizza place, he had wondered if they would be awkward and silent to one another through their visit together. However, Venus had proven him wrong. If anything, she was lightening the mood, making it easier for them to communicate to one another, to get to know each other. Leo was thankful for that. He wasn't the best when it came to meet-and-greets, or even hanging out with someone he barely knew. With Venus lightening the tension with her playfulness it was almost calming, relaxing to be in her presence, something Leo had been doubtful and becoming a reality. However, she had cleared that up already. Not bad.

"Yes, yes I am! I'm kind of surprised actually. You were able to detect me last night when I was following you, and I was pretty for away. What's so different about tonight?" Venus questioned, adjusting her belt as she asked. Leo froze for a moment, pondering what she had just said. She was right, actually. Last night it had taken Leo only a few seconds to register that she had been following him, but tonight he couldn't sense her at all, besides when she had landed on the rooftop. He didn't know how to answer because he didn't know what was wrong with him. He was losing his sanity, his patience, and now he was losing his ninja skills! What was doing this to him?! But then, something clicked. How had she been so quiet, so stealthy? No fighter was that inconspicuous and careful.

"Well, let me ask you something real quick, because I noticed something about you. You're quiet, you're stealthy, and you're definitely careful with your actions and choices. Are you a kunoichi?" Leo questioned, drawing just a little bit closer to Venus. The turquoise masked female was quiet for a moment, looking at Leo with curiosity and a sense of amazement. She giggled after a second, before giving him a curious look again, as if asking him if he had literally just asked that. He got his answer in that look, which made him feel a little better about himself.

"Yes, I am a kunoichi. Nearly twelve to thirteen years of Ninjitsu training." Venus confessed, tugging at something behind her. When Leo gave her a curious glance as to what she was messing with she moved her cloak out of the way to reveal a sheath and blade attached to the back of her belt. From looking at the sheath Leo could only guess that the blade was just a tiny bit smaller than his Katanas. It seemed to have a lighter weight as well, saying that she could hold it easily on her hips without being dragged down. He watched as she adjusted her belt again before moving to tie something on her sheath. After that tie the blade stopped swinging around so often, only moving when she jumped or swung her hips about. "So, what now?" Venus suddenly asked.

Leo looked at her for a second before snapping back to reality. Wait, when had he zoned out? That wasn't something he normally did, especially when there were people around. At least he knew what she had asked. "Um, well, I have to patrol this area and another one. You know, to look out for mutants and ruffians and all that. We could patrol those areas and get to know each other." Leo suggested. He was expecting Venus to become bored and bail on him, like most people did when he suggested focusing on the task at hand or anything that dealt with training. However, he was surprised when she gave him a nod of agreement. She liked the idea of patrolling . . . maybe not that in general, but she wasn't disagreeing with him . . . huh.

Leo smiled at her agreement and pointed in the direction they were gonna start at. He would lead her along in the patrolling direction as they got further and further into the area, to make it easier. They didn't need a signal to go. All Leo did was start running in the way he had pointed and Venus followed close behind. A conversation brewed between the two as they patrolled, their eyes focused everywhere, but their interests and hearing focused on each other. Maybe this wasn't going to be so strange and awkward after all.

~ An Hour Later ~

The patrolling had actually gone pretty well. For the entire midnight hour and a little after that Leo and Venus had patrolled the two areas and struck up some pretty interesting and curious conversations between each other. The two hadn't gotten bored at all, like they had originally feared. Actually, it was quite the opposite, saying that they'd grown interested in each other. That wasn't the only thing though. Through the entire hour, knowing it from the start, the ninja and kunoichi had started a blossoming friendship, something that had seemed impossible to both of them when they realized, at different ages, that the world saw them as freaks. However, they saw each other as friends, allies, a person to lay there trust in. It was nice, relaxing, and relieving, to know that there was someone else out there, who wasn't family, who you could rely in, depend on, and believe in. Truly, it was nice. However, at one point, they both had to return to their homes, ending their meeting. That didn't mean they wouldn't hang out again though.

"You know, this was really nice. I enjoyed it." Venus confessed as she and Leo stopped on a clothing store rooftop to catch their breath. Leo smiled and nodded at her before he looked to the moon. It was nearly a quarter past one o'clock now. If he got home any later than two than Splinter would have his shell. It'd been made a rule to be home before two in the morning because of all the enemy activity that was going on. No one dared to disobey Splinter, and Leo was already pushing it with staying out until one thirty in the morning. He needed to get home right about now, or he wasn't gonna make it. He turned to Venus, the turquoise masked kunoichi was stretching, a tiny yawn escaping her. He smiled. He wasn't the only one who was tired.

"Well, I have to go, and you look like you need some sleep anyway." Leo claimed, receiving a tired smile from Venus. She was starting to get sleepy and she already knew that when she got home she was gonna pass out. Leo smiled back drearily. He was tired, true, and he needed to get home, which was also true, but . . . he didn't wanna say goodbye yet. He had been enjoying his time, be it limited, with Venus and it was a pain to have to go. However, he knew the consequences for staying out late and they could still meet up again sometime. It wasn't the end of the world, though, for some reason . . . it felt like it was. "I guess I'll see you later than." Leo said.

"Definitely." Venus replied, making Leo smile at her confidence. He knew she had enjoyed the night as much as he had, but her vote of confidence for seeing him again was something that he enjoyed. She had hope, a great thing to have, and he felt joy knowing it. "Well, goodbye, Leo. And good night. I'll see you later." Venus said as she turned the other direction, readying herself for the long trip home. It was gonna take all of her energy, but it would be worth it.

"Goodbye, Venus. I'll see you later. And, of course, good night to you as well." Leo said as he walked his own way. They lived in opposite directions, from what they knew, so, with their backs turned away from each other, they took off in their own directions into the night.

~ Venus ~

Venus smiled as she recollected Leo's grin, his chuckle, his joy and playfulness. It kept replaying in her head, over and over until she was dizzy. She had enjoyed the night with Leo, getting to know him, becoming his friend instead of just being an ally. She felt special, in a sense, and was joyous to realize that she would be able to see Leo again, in a short time, hopefully. She smiled again as she hooded herself, becoming a shadow that raced along the rooftop.

For ten minutes she ran like this, reminiscing in the night and journeying home. However, her good night was about to end. As she ran she heard something. It sounded like footsteps from far away, coming closer but keeping a reasonable distance. She looked around her, but spotted nothing in the area that was around her. Maybe it was just a teenager or a person, a young adult maybe, running around in the late-night hour. But Venus questioned if that was the case. It was nearly two in the morning. It wasn't like it was uncommon for a person to do a late-night jog, but it was uncommon for a late-night jog to be this late at night. New York was a strange city with strange people though, but Venus still questioned her reasoning. Her suspicion turned to fear when she made a sharp left and the figure followed that. This wasn't a late-night jogger. Someone was following her.

Venus ran faster, but the figure kept it's distance and this time it started getting closer. The thing was behind her, chasing her, and the problem was that there was more than one pair of footsteps now. There were four, and the number just kept adding on until there was about ten. She ran faster, her legs burning and her body growing tired. She needed to get home, but she needed these things or people off of her tail first. She took a sharp right, away from her home, but was met with the tip of a blade barely missing her cheek. She yelped and jumped back into her spot, pulling out her blade, a Wakazashi, from its sheath. Her auburn eyes looked around, trying to pinpoint where the people were, but she had no luck. They were trained like her, she realized. They were trained to be one and move in, out, and like a shadow. She gave in inwards growl. This wasn't gonna be easy and she was already low on energy. She needed to lose these guys, but before she could another surprise came up.

The things, whatever they were, moved away, but the problem wasn't there. It was, instead, around her. Everywhere she turned, she looked, their was a soldier dressed in a black suit with bug-like eyes that were red or white. Each and every one of them wielded some type of Ninjitsu weapon, and all eyes were on her. Every time she tried to get out they would block her path. Every time she fought back there were ten of them to push her to the ground. She was trapped in a circle of soldiers. What worried her was why this was happening. There were two things that this could be. The first one was that they were a group that ambushed and attacked whoever was unlucky to be caught. The second one was that she had been watched and followed and that someone, something, had set this trap for her. But why?

Suddenly, there was a deep, growling-like laughter behind her. She turned around quickly and was met with the sight of mutants. One of them was a reddish-pinkish fish that had water tanks attached to its back and gills and robot legs to help it move around in its unnatural terrain. The next one was a dog-like mutant that looked like he had been overexposed to mutagen. He was dark gray with light gray streaks and marks running across some parts of his body. He had white structure, something Venus believed were bones, sticking out of certain areas of him, such as his hands, which, due to the bone-like structure, were sharp and pointed for battle. The last one was the one that caught her eye. A mutant tiger with no tail and no left eye. Where his left eye was there was an eye patch. He wore a baby blue scarf and was dressed in the clothes of a supreme hunter. Inside his belt were guns that seemed advanced and more dangerous than what Venus was used to. The tiger gave a frown to her, but the other two mutants had grins of pure evil.

"Great, just what I needed." Venus growled angrily as she moved into a fighting stance. Her Wakazashi was held in both her hands, which gripped the handle tightly from her anger and need of sleep. She was ready to fight . . . or so she hoped.

Translations

- 撃ちます。 。 。したほうがいい？いいえ、これは悪い考えではありません！しかし、それは何ではないですか？

Uchimasu... Shita hō ga ī? Īe, kore wa warui kangaede wa arimasen! Shikashi, sore wa nanide wanaidesu ka?

Shoot . . . should I? No, no, this is a bad idea! But, what if it isn't?