A.N.: Ziptango, Daydream, Raphiella, TygeroftheWynd, Mily and Lenni are all twelve. Danceingfae, Machias, Splinter, HexAdecimal, TMNTPunker, Arista are all thirteen. The guys are eighteen.

Hexadecimal couldn't find Arista anywhere. She had looked in all of the rooms, out in the barn, and in the forest, but the blue-wearing turtle girl had gone missing. Hex stood in the middle of the living room, her arms crossed over her plastron, and tapped her foot angrily.

"Ris!" she shouted, hoping that perhaps she would just yell her sister to her side. "Arista, get your butt down here and come with me!" It sucked living in a family of ninjas; if someone wanted to stay hidden, it was quite likely they would stay that way.

There was no reply to Hex's shouting.

"Well fine! Stay here!" Hex yelled to the ceiling. Growling, she stormed out of the house. She would just go down to the river by herself. Maybe Ziptango or Daydream was already there.

Up in the attic, Arista smirked when she heard Hex's yelling. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with her sister; it was just that she wanted to finish what she was working on. Back at the lair, it was hard to get a moment of peace and quiet because everyone was always crowded into the same small space. At the farm house, everyone sort of exploded into every direction and it was harder for them to track her down.

Arista bent over the French horn and started tightening the strings on the back. Many instruments were hard for her to play and to repair since her fingers were not as small or nimble as a human's, but the French horn was a little easier than others.

Its beautiful, mellow tone was easy on the ears and none of her family members yelled at her when she played it. This was a great contrast to whenever she played the clarinet or the flute and her siblings glared and complained until she retreated to the sewers.

Arista had collected a number of musical instruments over the years. Whenever her family went garbage picking, Arista always kept an eye out for instruments that humans had thrown away because they no longer worked.

Often, the instruments only needed a little work until they sounded as good as ever. Of course, it had taken a lot of online studying to get to the point where she was able to fix instruments but it was worth it.

Arista loved hiding off by herself in some corner or hidey-hole and fixing her instruments. It was a passion of hers, and it was definitely more than a hobby. She was considering making a business out of it when she got older by having April or Casey front it and she fix the instruments behind the scenes. It would not be such a bad way to spend her adult life when she wasn't busy being a ninja.

Humming to herself, Arista continued her repairing, Reiko sitting peacefully at her feet. She would find her siblings later, when she felt like it, and not a moment before then.

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Most of the other members of the Hamato family were at the river. A game of hide-and-seek had already started between some of the girls and Michelangelo, who had been violently coerced into playing. If you listened closely you could hear him grumbling from his hiding spot; that was often how he was found.

Lenni was another one who was easy to find; she always giggled when someone got close to her, so she was often found first or second, to her great dismay. The other members of the family were spread out along the edge of the river, cane poles in hand.

"I'm bored," Daydream complained. She was sitting at Leonardo's feet, dangling her legs over the edge of the bank. The river lapped up and tickled her toes, but she was reluctant to get in the water with so many fishing poles around. Not to mention they would yell at her if she tried it. Lenni already had, and everyone had yelled at her until she had gotten out and started the hide-and-seek game.

"Then go play with the others," Leonardo suggested. He just wanted some peaceful fishing time, not to be bugged by his little sister.

"I don't want to," she said stubbornly. She put her feet deeper into the water and smirked back at him. "I want to go swimming."

"You'll scare the fish away," Leo told her. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Your face scares the fish away."

"Do you have to be such a pain?"

"Only when you're such a loser," she replied, grinning at him. She loved being a smart aleck; it was a growing skill of hers. It was the only Raphael-esque trait she had taken on, and her other brothers were determined to keep her that way. It was better than Lenni who was turning herself into a mini-Raphael.

Leonardo rolled his eyes and decided to ignore her. She usually got bored when you did not pay attention to her. Sure enough, in a few minutes, Daydream got up and danced away, hopefully to go find someone else to bother. Maybe she would annoy Raphael.

Mily sat cross-legged in the grass beside Donatello, watching him fish. The older, purple-bandanna'd turtle had a special made fishing pole that he had created that morning. Unlike the others, his was not made of bamboo. Instead, he had taken a young tree and stripped it, fixed a reel to it and added eyelets for his fishing line to through. On his other side, five fish were lined up on the ground.

"Donny, do you like fishing?" she asked, pushing her pink bandana tails back over her shoulder. Donny smiled down at her and nodded.

"Why?" she asked.

Donny looked back toward the river, pondering the question. "Hmm, it's rather relaxing. It's not…intense like working with machines is. I don't know," he said, shrugging her shoulders.

Mily grinned as another fish was pulled out of the river and laid beside the others. Donny really was good at fishing. Very unlike Raphael. She leaned forward and glanced downriver at where Raphael was standing in an attack position. One sai was pulled back toward his ear and aimed at the river while the other was held by his side.

Raphael's eyes were trained on the river, darting back and forth as he watched something beneath the shimmering waves. Suddenly, he let out a shout and flung his sai into the water. He jumped into the water after his sai and plunged his hand into the water after it.

"DAMN!" he cursed as he pulled up an empty sai.

"Nice going, Raph," Leonardo said, rolling his eyes, "You succeeded in scaring all the fish away."

"Shut up, Leo," Raphael snapped, pointing a sai at his brother.

"Patience, my son," Master Splinter called. The elderly mutant was crouching in the middle of the stream, his hands deep in the water. His eyes were closed and his ears twitched occasionally.

"It ain't that easy, Master Splinter!" Raphael complained. He slogged back out of the river and onto the bank. Just when he turned back around to face the river, Master Splinter drew his hands out of the river, sending water droplets into the sky. Wriggling in his sure grip was a trout, its scales like a rainbow in the sunlight.

"It is not easy," Master Splinter said as he walked toward the bank. He put the fish on the ground beside Raphael and smiled at him with wise eyes, "But patience succeeds in the end." Raphael grumbled something, but his eyes stayed on the fish.

Machias was hiding in a patch of tall grasses, waiting for someone to find her. She had not been found yet so she had not yet had a catch at being It. She was starting to think that she was either lucky or a better ninja than she thought. Grinning, she crouched down farther in the grass as she heard someone coming toward her.

She peeked over and saw that Lenni was stomping through the trees, her arms crossed over her plastron and a fierce scowl on her face. No doubt she had been found again and made it. It seemed like every other turn was her turn. Machias considered coming out of her hiding spot just to give Lenni a break then thought better of it.

She did not want to break her winning streak; Mikey would be proud of her if she was able to stay away from being it the entire game. Instead, she started a slow but steady commando crawl away from Lenni.

Lenni kicked at the ground, sending a clump of grass into the air. She was tired and frustrated with being It over and over again. It really sucked. And there had been a couple times when she had not caught anyone and they had all made it to base before she could get them. Growling, she clenched her hands into fists and stormed through the trees, determined to find a sibling.

She spotted Hexadecimal wandering through the trees, heading toward the river and where their home base was. Lenni scowled; if Hex was just prancing through the woods, it meant that she did not have any confidence in Lenni's ninja skills. Lenni would show her though.

Hex was heading down to the river to catch up with the others when she heard someone running toward her through the woods. She turned just in time to deflect her smallest, blue and yellow bandana'd sister and toss her over her head. Lenni landed on her backside, but she jumped up quickly, victory on her face.

"I tagged you, Hex! You're it now!" Lenni declared.

Hex stared at her. "I'm not playing, Lenni. What are you talking about?"

Lenni's face fell and she could feel herself growing angry again. "Whaddaya mean you're not playing? We're playing hide-n-seek."

"I'm not," Hex snorted, "I just got here."

Lenni's face went hot and she glared at the ground. Hex frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Lenni, you okay?"

Lenni let out a frustrated shout and shoved past her sister. She glared at the forest, knowing that probably everyone who was playing hide-n-seek was watching her and laughing. "I'M NOT PLAYING ANYMORE! I HATE THIS GAME!"

She marched herself off through the forest, not caring if someone tried to stop her. Let them dare. She'd show them the couple moves she knew.

Ziptango jumped out of her hiding spot and looked over at Hexadecimal who was standing there, confused.

"What crawled up her ass?" Hex asked, watching their sister crash through the foliage, taking out a few ferns and brush plants as she went.

Ziptango let out a low whistle and shrugged. "It's Lenni. She doesn't really need a reason to act out. She just does it."

Hex shook her head, "Brat." At that moment, both Tyger and Raphiella jumped out of the bushes at her, tackling her to the ground.

"HAHA! ELEMENT OF SURPRISE!" shouted Ella, tickling her older sister's sides.

"ATTACK THE NON-BELIEVER!" roared Tyger.

Together they fought off Hex who had begun a retaliation sequence. Beside the wrestling trio, Ziptango rolled her eyes. Violence was so last year.

As Lenni stomped past his hiding spot, Michelangelo came out, shaking his head. Lenni always seemed to get the short stick. He loped after her and then walked beside her as she made her way through the forest.

"So, where're we going?" Mikey asked, grinning down at her. Lenni shot him a glare.

"I don't know where I'm going, but it's away from you," she snapped.

"Huh. That's not going to be any fun," Mikey replied. Lenni stopped and put her hands on her waist and stared at him imperiously.

"And why's that?" She demanded.

Mikey beamed his goofiest smile and put his thumb to his plastron, "Because I'm where the fun's at."

Lenni stared at him for a minute then cracked a smile. "You're such a goofball."

Mikey grinned at her happily. "Yeah, but it got you to smile."

Lenni grumbled and kept up her aggravated march through the forest. Mikey walked beside her, his arms clasped behind his head.

"You lookin' forward to the bonfire tonight?" he asked, glancing down at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Bonfires are for babies," Lenni said, but he could see the excited gleam in her eyes. Lenni loved bonfires as much as the next person and they had planned a big one for that night.

Later in the afternoon, he, Leo, Raph, and Don were going to chop firewood while the younger ones gathered fallen wood from the forest. It was going to be their biggest bonfire yet, and everyone was excited, even Lenni.

"Well, then I'm a big baby because I'm pumped about it," Mikey said. He grinned and pushed her gently on the shoulder. "And just because you're grumpy doesn't mean you can't enjoy the bonfire, dudette."

"That don't make sense," Lenni said, frowning at him. "And I'm not grumpy."

"Could've fooled me."

"I'm mad."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Grumpy, mad, same thing."

"Not to me," Lenni said. "Grumpy's when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Mad is when someone makes you get in a bad mood."

"Oh," Mikey said, sort of understanding the logic, "So I guess the hide-n-seek game put you in a bad mood?"

"Yeah," Lenni grumbled, "You might've guessed right."

"You shouldn't let it get to you like that," Mikey advised, "It's just a game."

"No it isn't!" She insisted. She kicked at the ground and crossed her arms over her chest, "It's nothing like that 'cause it matters. It's got ninja skills and I ain't got none. I ain't like everyone else, and it ain't fair!"

"Well, then shouldn't you try practicing harder, rather than trying to break your Bo in half?" Mikey suggested casually, continuing when he saw her questioning look. "Yeah, Donnie told me all about that. You're lucky he found you and not anyone else."

"Whatever," Lenni muttered, trying to act indifferent. "It don't matter if it breaks or not – it's not like I can use the stupid thing the way Donnie can."

"Again I ask, then shouldn't you try harder?"

"I do try!" Lenore exploded angrily, frustrated tears springing to her eyes. "But it's too hard! I'm doing the best I can, and my best just isn't good enough for anyone!"

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"What the…..GAH!" Leo exclaimed, as he went tumbling into the river in which he was currently fishing. "Dagnabit! There goes the fish!"

He glared up at the sister whom was standing there smirking down at him, a smug look worn upon her face.

"Have a nice fall, Leo?" Splinter asked amusedly, her arms crossed over her chest. "Not such a great ninja when fishing, now are you?"

"Well, when everyone asks why there's no fish for dinner, I'll just tell them it's your fault," Leo shrugged, standing up and catching himself as he slipped on a rock. "And then we'll see just who gets thrown in."

"Ha. Fat chance," Splinter laughed, enjoying egging him on. "It's your fault for not being the great ninja you supposedly are."

"If I'm not a great ninja, then how come I can do this?" Leo asked, moving at super ninja speed and picking Splinter up and tossing her in. "Now whose not such a great ninja? Hmm?"

Splinter spluttered, as she struggled to keep afloat. "Hey! I wasn't supposed to end up wet too!"

"Oh, yay! We can go swimming now!" Daydream cheered, as she came running over.

Leo rolled his eyes at her, as she cheered again about getting her way, without really having to try.

"Cannon ball!" A voice shouted then, and they all looked only to see Mily doing just what she'd called out, into the river. "Whoot!"

A few moments later, half the girls were in the river, laughing and shrieking about, as they kept trying to splash and dunk one another.

"Well, I'm glad you're all having fun," Leo commented. "But what are we supposed to do about our dinner?"

"Oh, Leo, you worry too much," Danceingfae waved him off, as she turned to dunk Punker. "Besides, Sensei's caught a bunch, if you'd look over by Raph."

Leo glanced over towards their brother in red, unable to help but smirk, as he saw him grumbling quietly about how Master Splinter had showed him up in the fishing department.

"Guess that leaves me to do only one thing then," Leo stated calmly.

"And what's that?"

"This," Leo smiled, as he jumped in, splashing his five sisters in doing so.

The girls all shrieked and swam away from him quickly, as he chased after them, to try and dunk them all.

"Raph, get in here and help me!" Leo called out to his brother, whom was still standing next to the pile of fish, watching them all in amusement.

"Got not problem with that Leo," Raph smirked, running and jumping into the river as well. "Git back here yah Brats, so I c'n drown yah!"

"Raph, you can't drown a turtle!" Danceingfae laughed, as she swam far away from him as she could. "Turtles live in water, remember?"

"I think he must've missed that class," Daydream giggled, as she dodged Leo. "Nyah! Nyah! You can't catch me!"

"Yanno, you Brats are still as annoying as yah were when you were eight an' nine years old!" Raph growled menacingly, as he managed to catch Mily and dunk her under. "Hah! Gotcha!"

"And we've got you!" Splinter and Punker exclaimed, as they both dunked Raph under the water's surface. Though, soon as he was dunked, they took off as thought their lives depended on it.

"I'ma get you for that!" Raph roared as he surfaced quickly.

The girls all shrieked once more, as Raph began to chase whoever he felt was closest to him. They also were careful to avoid Leo, who was still also trying to catch them and dunk them. Who knew their brothers – one stubborn as hell, the other bossy as hell – could work together and have fun?

"Kids," Master Splinter chuckled from his spot on the riverbank.

"Good thing we're out here and not in the city," Donnie remarked. "Or we'd have been found out long ago."

"Yes, that we would have," Master Splinter agreed. "But, it is nice to see all of you relaxed and enjoying yourselves. It is not often Leonardo and Raphael team up together to play with your sisters."

"No, it's not," Donnie replied, smiling some. "I like that about being out here. Some things, like Lenni's temper, stay the same; and then some things, like Raph and Leo willingly playing games, are sort of new every time because of how rarely that happens."

"Exactly," Master Splinter nodded his head, as he kept an eye on his children messing around in the river.

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"Well, that's the last of them," Arista sighed, as she eyed the few instruments she'd brought and managed to fix. Of course, she'd fixed her French horn first, as it was by far her favourite. "You think we should go join everybody now, Reiko?"

The dog lying at her feet gave a small half bark in response, as his tail wagged happily. He was always quite content to be wherever his master decided they ought to be, so long as he had her with him.

Arista smiled at her furry friend. "Let's get going then," she smiled, reaching over to pat his head.

She carefully stood, her busted leg in a softer cast now, as Donnie had finally been able to get the proper things for it. She groaned slightly though, as she realized she'd left her crutches down in the bathroom.

"Oh, well," she sighed. "I got up here okay, so getting down should be just as easy, right Reiko?"

Once more, Reiko wagged his tail and gave a soft ruff, as he watched her struggle to get to her feet.

"Okay, that's the last time I sit on the floor with a busted leg," she exclaimed, soon as she was in a standing position. "Phew! What a work-out."

She gave a small laugh at herself, as she shook her head. "Let's go, boy."

Reiko stood then, and trotted on over to the stairway that would drop down at the tug of a rope that hung from the ceiling. He watched his master warily, as she hobbled on over to where he was, holding onto anything she could manage to grab and steady herself with.

Upon reaching the stairs, Arista tugged on the rope that would cause the stairs to drop so she'd be able to climb down. She loved that about the old farm house – thanks to Donnie, the stairs worked much better than they had years before. Years before, her and some of her sisters had gotten stuck up in the attic, hence being why some of them refused to go up there at all now.

Soon enough, both Arista and Reiko were back down on the upstairs floor where the bedrooms and bathroom were. They made their way to the bathroom, where Arista fetched her crutches, then they continued on their way downstairs to the kitchen for a bite to eat.

"You must be starved by now," Arista said to her four-legged friend. "We haven't eaten anything since everyone got up to practice this morning."

She set about getting Reiko some scraps, then grabbed an apple from the refrigerator for herself. After Reiko had finished scarfing down his snack, the two of them headed on out into the yard, Arista still munching on her apple, as she used her crutches to move along her merry way.

"Find them Reiko," Arista told the dog at her side. "Go find Leo."

Reiko sniffed the air a moment, then stuck his nose to the ground and began to sniff out her eldest brother.

"Good boy," she praised, as she followed him into the woods towards the riverbank.

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"So, what do you guys wanna do now?" Ziptango asked her sisters, as they all sat leaning up against trees in the woods they'd been playing in. "I mean, I think we're all tired of hide 'n' seek by now."

"I still can't believe you were never found Match," Raphiella smirked, shaking her head.

"Watch it," Machias warned. "And what's not to believe? Lenni was it most of the time."

"Good point!" Tyger laughed. "It's a wonder she ever found any of us at all!"

"Well, she found me," Hex stated. "Only, I wasn't playing. And if I had been playing, she still wouldn't have gotten me, as I heard her coming from a mile away! That girl just does not know how or when to be quiet!"

The five of them laughed some, then grew quiet, as they tried to think of something to do.

"We could always go swimming," Raphiella suggested.

"Nah," Tyger sighed, waving her off. "I bet everyone else is doing that right now, and it gets rather crowded when we all go in at once."

"Hey! I know!" Ziptango piped up excitedly. "We could share secrets! I mean, it's been a while since we've done that, and some of us have to have some new ones by now, right?"

"Sure!" The others agreed.

"We just better keep an ear out for intruders," Hexadecimal warned. "Or some of us might end up in some serious trouble or something."

"So who wants to go first?" Ziptango asked, eyeing each of her sisters in turn.

"Well, you're the one, who suggested it, so why don't you go first?" Tyger stated.

"Okay, sure," Ziptango nodded. "Just let me think of something."

"And here I thought, because you suggested it, you already had a secret in mind," Hexadecimal laughed.

Ziptango shrugged. "Well, the only thing I can think of right now is when I snuck out a couple weeks ago, to go scavenging."

"You went alone?!" Raphiella exclaimed in surprise.

"Yup," Ziptango nodded. "I wanted to see if I could find some more drumsticks and stuff, and Donnie never stays long enough for me to take a good look. He always seems to find what he's looking for straight away, and then, of course, he wants to come home so he can do whatever with it."

"And you got past Leo?!" Tyger said, her jaw dropping in shock. "No one has ever managed to do that, except for on the rare occasion!"

"I'd say you're definitely ready for the Trials," Hexadecimal smirked. "I mean, anyone who can get past Leo, just has to be ready for them, right?"

Her sisters all nodded in agreement, as Ziptango blushed slightly and looked away some.

"Yeah, well, Tyger's next in line after Splinter, not me," she reminded them. "Then Ella, and then me, and then Mily, Day, and Lenni."

Hex gave a snort at the mention of Lenni taking the Trials, as Tyger and Ella scoffed slightly.

"Well, they're why I've started sleep walking," Tyger admitted suddenly.

"You have?" Ella replied, raising an eye ridge at her. "Really?"

"Yeah," Tyger nodded slightly. "I mean, I know my turn won't be for a while yet, but just the fact that they are coming, is stressing me out. I don't know how Splinter can just be so relaxed and calm and stuff about them, while I'm here freaking out, and it's not even my turn yet."

"Maybe she is, but just not showing it?" Ziptango told her with a small shrug. "I mean, we don't all show how we feel about them aloud usually – except Lenni, but she's the only exception."

"Yeah, maybe," Tyger sighed heavily. "I just don't like the fact that I'm sleep walking, and hate it even more that I only found out I was 'cause Raph of all people caught me!"

"Oh, wow! I'm surprised he didn't give you nightmares!" Ziptango teased. "Heck, maybe he's why you're sleep walking – he prolly scared you horribly, while you were already sleep walking and you just don't know it."

Tyger laughed some. "Yeah, I can just see him getting all peeved with me for not answering him or something, when really I've no idea what I'm doing at the moment."

"Haha. Someone ought to video tape you, just to see the look on his face," Ella giggled. "That'd be pretty funny."

"Yeah, but at Tyger's expense," Hex snorted.

They all laughed then, as they continued to go on about Raphael putting up with sleep walkers, as well as their secrets game.

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Mikey raised his eye ridges at his youngest sister, not sure whether to believe her about practices being too hard or not. Though, then he took a moment to consider all of what she knew ninjitsu wise, and realized, she had to be telling the truth. Otherwise, her lack of ninjitsu just didn't make any sense – he always figured there was something more to it, than her just not wanting to be a ninja. But maybe…just maybe…she always had wanted to be ninja, but was just unable to keep up, thus making her feel left out, so she chose to rebel rather than have to flat out admit defeat.

"Why didn't you ever tell Sensei then?" He questioned, eyeing her carefully. "If he knew, he'd more than likely go easier on you, Kiddo."

Lenni's eyes went huge, as she suddenly realized she just blown her secret! The secret she'd managed to keep all these years, though she always seemed to blab all her other ones. But, her fear of Master Splinter knowing she couldn't keep up, is what made her keep it. Yes, she knew she'd no real reason to fear their father, and yet, she just couldn't help but do so anyway when it came to ninjitsu.

"Lenni?" Mikey pried, as he mentally took note of her body language.

"I – just – never mind," Lenni said finally, turning to walk away from her understanding brother in orange.

"I will not just never mind," Mikey insisted. "Now, tell me what's going on inside that little green head of yours."

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Meanwhile, back at the riverbank, Leo and Raph had gotten out of the water, and had begun getting the necessities to chop some wood for their bonfire. They'd noted it was starting to get late in the day, and with a bonfire as big as the one they wanted to have, they knew it was best to get started on preparing it a bit early.

While his brothers were preparing to go chop some wood, Donatello was currently gutting the fish they'd caught for dinner. He wasn't a great cook, but he was the best at gutting them out, after Michaelangelo of course.

The five girls who'd been swimming, were also helping to prepare for the bonfire. Daydream, and Mily had started fetching small twigs and such for kindling, while splinter had gone off in search of good sticks to roast marshmallows and such on. Danceingfae and Punker had decided to help Donnie with the fish, though both were making grossed out faces as they did so.

"Okay, if this fish bleeds on me once more!" Punker exclaimed angrily. "It's going to be chop suey!"

"Patience, my daughter," Master Splinter spoke from his spot on the grass nearby. "Only then will you achieve what you want done."

Punker growled slightly. "I have patience, just not when a stupid fish decides to get all gross on me!"

Danceingfae snickered some, as she tossed a freshly gutted fish into the one bucket they had nearby, full of already gutted fish.

"Oh, shut it over there!" Punker told her, doing her best to hide the smirk that wanted to arise upon her face. "Let's just get this done and over with. I'm starved."

"Are we having anything other than fish, Sensei?" Donnie asked, as he began to gut another fish.

"Yes, we are having some beans, hot dogs, and some berries, if the girls in the woods remember to pick any while they are there," Master Splinter answered, then continued with a small smile. "And I made sure to bring some rice you can make over a fire for Lenore, since she will not eat the fish, beans, or fire cooked hot dogs."

Donnie shook his head then. "Picky," he stated. "Though, I do love that rice!"

Danceingfae and Punker nodded their agreement, as they both tossed a fish into the bucket in unison, causing them both to laugh at their weird moment of unity.