Woo! I actually updated early for once! See what not giving deadlines does for a girl? + I haven't done a disclaimer in a while, so here's your reminder that I do not, in fact, own any turtles of the teenage, mutant, or ninja variety. Anyway, enjoy this chapter. R&R!


"You are not old enough, Raphael." Splinter said, ears flattened against the sides of his head. Leo and Donnie exchanged uneasy looks as the big grin on Raph's face faded away. Mikey gulped as a look like thunder took its place.

"Am too!" Raph stomped his foot. He crossed his arms and looked up with the angriest face he could make; Leo was mildly impressed about how similar it was to Normal Raph's.

"Are not!" Mikey protested.

Raph rounded on his brother. "Am too!"

"Are nottttt!" Mikey said in a sing-song voice. Raph's face grew red, a sign of an oncoming tantrum.

"Michelangelo, that is enough." Splinter cut in, watching his now-youngest son out of the corner of his eye. "And Raphael, you are not yet a teenager, my son." Raph puffed out his cheeks and scowled. His scowl dropped when Splinter finished speaking, and he stuck his lower lip out, quivering.

Oh, no... Leo groaned. Not the fake tears again. Leo remembered many a time when he was a turtle tot, in which Raph used fake tears to get what he wanted. He and Mikey were definitely the pros at that. One time, he tried that, and Splinter looked at him like he'd mutated into a human for the next week!

With a final sniff, loud crying erupted from the youngest turtle. He stomped off down the hallway, looking over his shoulder one last time before rounding the corner and glaring at the rest of his family. The others could hear the sound of stomping all the way to the couch, where Raphael (quite loudly) began screaming that nobody loved him anymore.

Donnie wasn't impressed. "Okay, Sensei, we'll be back before dawn." He turned to herd his brothers out when Splinter called out for him to stop. Their father was pinching the bridge of his nose, ears twitching with every new cry.

"It may not be the best idea for you three to go to the surface while your brother is still... incapacitated."

The older three all cried out. "But Sensei!"

Splinter held up a hand. "I am not going to argue this, my sons." He turned to go back inside his room when Mikey piped up.

"Can't we just take him with us? There's 3 of us, and 1 of him. Someone would always be watching him. Buddy system!" Mikey blurted out. Donnie smacked a hand over his mouth and stopped him from continuing. Splinter paused.

"Well, since Normal Raph isn't here, we wouldn't be jumping into any fights. We could stay on the roof?" Leo suggested, ignoring the stink eye look Donnie was throwing his way. Splinter turned around and looked at Leo. His ear turned towards the direction of the living room, where there was no more crying. Leo looked that way; Raph was peeking over the corner.

"Pwease?" Raph begged, Puppy Dog Eyes activated.

Splinter took a deep breath and locked eyes with Leo. "If anything happens to him, you all are grounded. For the rest of your lives." Leo gulped. Splinter looked back at Raphael. "You may go, but only if your brothers agree to it. And you hold hands with Leonardo the entire time. Stay on the rooftops, and do not be seen."

Donnie facepalmed, Leo's jaw was on the floor, and Mikey gave Raph a high-three.

This was going to be a blast... NOT!


"Why on Earth did you agree to this?" Donnie groaned, shooting his best exasperated look at both of his brothers. Leo returned his stare evenly back, although it was kind of hard for Donnie to take him seriously with a squealing turtle tot sliding down his shell as they roof hopped.

Mikey grinned from the other side of Leo. "He's just so cute! How can you say no to those wittle chubby cheeks?"

"I can't believe you wanted to babysit MORE! This was supposed to be a BREAK!" Donnie threw his hands up in the air. Leo skidded to a stop as Raph kicked his heels against Leo's plastron, allowing his brother to slide off.

"I love it up here!" Raph squealed. Leo tried to cover up his smile.

So worth it.

"You can never come up here by yourself, okay, Raph?" Leo instructed. Raph nodded and beamed up at his brothers before running around in circles on the roof, leaning over the sides to look down at the sidewalks below.

"Hey, Raph?" Mikey giggled. Raph turned around, and Leo looked over with suspicious as Mikey started to cackle. "Aren't you supposed to be holding Leo's hand?" Raph's eyes lit up; he ran over, grabbed Leo's hand, then pulled him back over to the edge of the roof. Leo rolled his eyes back at Mikey.

"Why don't you two go get dinner? Raph hasn't tried pizza gyoza yet." Donnie shrugged at Mikey, and they hopped down the fire escape. Raph jerked Leo's attention back down to a flickering light in one of the shops below, and Leo almost didn't hear the soft footsteps behind him. He swung out his katana, shoving Raph behind his leg and Karai brought down her weapon on Leo's.

"Well, Leo, looks like you actually decided to show up for our 'date' after all." She danced back, a feral grin on her face. Leo's cheeks flushed slightly.

"I've been a little busy at the moment. I'm sure you know how it is." Raph stepped out from behind Leo's legs, eyes lit up as the teenagers brought their swords crashing into one another again. Karai looked at the gaping child and winked at him.

"Raphie! Hey!" She lowered one sword and held out an arm. Raph brushed past Leo and ran to give her a hug.

"Raph! Get back here!" Leo said, holding out a hand towards the turtle tot. Karai smirked over Raph's head as she handed the child two toy cars to play with. Leo narrowed his eyes.

"Here, you go play while Leo and I talk." When Raph didn't move, she wrinkled up her nose. "You know. Boring adult stuff. Not much fun, in my opinion." Her interest in the little turtle and what looked like... care? was genuine. Leo could see it in her eyes. Raph ran off to the edge of the roof and plopped down, driving the cars across the wall and making crashing noises. Karai's focus turned back to Leo. "Yes, I can see you have been busy. How'd that happen?" She jerked her head towards Raph and lodged an attack.

Leo raised a katana and parried. "Last time I checked, Karai, it's none of your business about what happens to my family!" Leo growled.

Karai smirked. "But it's the business of those weird, alien robots?" Her grin widened as Leo went silent. "Got it." Raph ran over as Karai held the tip of her sword to Leo's plastron.

"'Rai! Do you wanna play?" Raph squealed, not even noticing Leo's compromised state. Karai's grip on the hilt tightened.

"You gonna kill me in front of a baby, Karai?" Leo snarled under his break, eyebrow cocked. Karai raised an eyebrow in return, spinning around and using her elbow to fling Leo back, sheathing her swords as he stumbled. She knelt down in front of Raph and held out a hand.

"Sure. Give me a car." She grinned lightly as Raph rolled one in her direction. "Vroom!" She trilled, getting up and driving the car in circles around Raph. He toddled after her, giggling.

Leo stumbled back towards his brother but did nothing. He watched, occasionally snorting as Raph would trip. He kept both eyes on Karai, watching to see if she would try any sort of tricks, and both ears out listening for Donnie and Mikey to return. He kept his katanas dangling loosely from his fingertips. Leo heard two familiar voices in the distance and stiffened.

"Karai, my brothers are coming." She nodded, handing Raph back the car and standing up.

"Bye, Raph, Leo." She dashed off, hopping delicately on the roof edge. "Oh, and Raphie? If you ever wanna join me and my family, you're welcome to come over and play." She waved at Raph and blew a kiss at Leo, winking. She flipped down and disappeared just as Donnie and Mikey showed up.

"Leo! We got pizza gyoza, just like you said!" Mikey exclaimed, shaking the steaming box at Leo. Leo was in a daze, staring after Karai. "Leo. Leo. Leo." The orange clad turtle poked his big brother's bicep with a devilish grin.

"What?" Leo snapped. He turned towards Raph and held out a hand. "Come on, Raph. Let's go home."

"But I don't wanna go!" Raph wailed; Leo swooped him up anyway and starting running in the opposite direction of Karai. Donnie and Mikey exchanged funny looks before sprinting to try and catch up.

"Leo," Donnie asked. "What's wrong?" Raph was pouting over Leo's shoulder, still clutching Karai's toy cars.

"I saw Foot Clan." Leo said tightly. He glanced at Donnie before leaping down the fire escape and ducking into the sewers. Raph dropped one of the trucks as Leo jumped in and howled. Leo didn't stop to go back and grab it.

Mikey bent down to pick it up. "Funny," he said. "I don't remember this car..."


Hope y'all enjoyed. Now we're finally getting to the good parts... :) R&R! Have a good day, everyone!