Author's Note

Hello Universe! Palkia's back with Chapter 5! Yee! This is one of my favorite parts of the series!

By the way, thank you guys for the support on the last chapter! Over 660 views! And 11 favs and follows! Thank you guys! I really appreciate it!

Here's the music list!

(1) Mission- Naruto Shippuden OST

(2) Loneliness- Naruto Shippuden OST

(3) Dark Clouds- Naruto Shippuden OST

(4) Strong and Strike- Naruto OST

(5) Naruto Unreleased Soundtrack- Naruto Main Theme ~Slow Ver.~

Now, let us begin!

I do not own Naruto and I do not own TMNT.

Chapter 4

Cooperation

"And so your inability to not only work together but also stay together allowed them all to get away!"

All four turtles were now being yelled at by Splinter because of the most recent events. However, the latter statement was specifically targeted at Leonardo, who unfortunately arrived home later than his brothers did. And when he came through the turnstiles, he arrived home to not only a set of three worried brothers, but also a disappointed father.

'At least my injuries are gone,' the eldest turtle thought.

Thanks to Kurama, Leo's injuries from the blaster were healed. No one would be able to notice the fact that he did end up getting hurt. It was a good thing too, otherwise his Sensei would probably ground him for a month if he found out that his son was hurt. Oh Splinter was fuming. Leo didn't need him to explode.

"Well, maybe if hero-boy over here didn't run off to do something stupid, I could've saved them!" Raph exclaimed. Leo's eyes widened in shock.

'Is he passing the blame onto me?!' he thought angrily.

"Forgot about how I said that I liked your brother earlier," Kurama stated. "Remind me to throw a Tailed Beast Ball at him later."

'That's probably not a good idea..' "Well, he almost hit you."

"If you hadn't gotten in my way, I could've done it!" Leo retaliated towards his younger brother. Then, he turned to Donnie.

"And you went flying off on your own! How smart was that!" The genius turtle sat there in astonishment, clearly surprised that his oldest brother decided to pass the blame onto him. But instead of retaliating against the blue masked turtle, he turned to Mikey.

"Well, it would've worked out great, if somebody hadn't hit me in the head with their nunchucks!" He exclaimed in anger at his younger brother.

"Well, none of this would've happened if…!" It was at that moment that the youngest turtle realized that there was no one next to him. So he went with the first thing he thought of.

"Somebody hadn't trusted us to go up there in the first place!"

All three older brothers' eyes widened in shock, gasping at the youngest turtle's statement.

'Did he...just pass the blame onto Sensei?!' He thought.

"I must now congratulate your brother," Kurama began. "He not only won the award for being the stupidest person in the universe, but he also won the award for least likely person to tick off the rat and have you banned from the surface."

'I really hope not…' Leo inwardly sighed.

With all of them going to the surface, it was the perfect opportunity to make an excuse for his surface travels. However, now that Mikey's big mouth unleashed this, as well as their encounter with the aliens while up on the surface, Splinter would probably forbid them from ever going up to the surface again. And not only that, but probably keep an even closer eye on all of them. As if his Sensei wasn't watching him enough.

"Oh geez," Mikey admitted, now realizing what he had said, and was clearly embarrassed and scared for what his father would do to him.

'Leave it to Mikey to speak first and think later…' he thought.

"Sensei, I didn't mean to…" The turtle trailed off, but to his surprise, as well as his brothers', their Sensei answered in a different way.

"No Michalangelo, you are right." Splinter admitted. He wasn't angry at his son, but instead he was agreeing with him!

"I am?" Mikey asked in confusion, for not only the fact that Sensei was agreeing with him, but he was actually right for once.

"He is?" All three of the older turtles said in unison, turning to their youngest brother. Leo did not know what to think about this.

'How could Mikey be right?' He thought. 'The only reason we were able to go up to the surface in the first place was because we pushed Splinter into allowing us to go. We were the ones who messed up.'

"The rat is referring to that," Kurama stated.

'What do you mean?' Leo asked.

"You have the capabilities to stop those 'Kraang' as they called themselves, if you were alone. However, since you were not alone, nothing can be done about it."

"However, what he is referring to is the fact of how well you and your brothers performed out there. All of you haven't essentially worked together before. And as you have noticed and heard, your brothers were often hit by each other's weapons. And you experienced this when you almost ran into Raphael."

'So what you're saying is that Sensei didn't train us to fight and work together?'

"Yes,"

'And now he's blaming himself because of this.'

"You were not fully prepared for what was up there," Splinter began. "I trained you to fight as individuals. Not as a team. And as your teacher, your father, the responsibility is mine." Leo could sense the shame and guilt coming from his master.

"Perhaps, in another year, we can try again," the rat master finished. All four of his sons, and a very angered fox, stared at him in shock.

"HOW IDIOTIC ARE YOU RAT?!" Kurama roared. Leo put his right hand against his head slightly, getting a headache from Kurama's yelling.

"HUMANS WERE KIDNAPPED! AND YOU WANT TO WAIT A YEAR?!

'Kurama...please…' Leo begged. The giant fox then noticed that his anger was outwardly affecting the turtle. He lowered his ears in shame.

"I must apologize for that," the kitsune replied.

'It's ok, I agree with you on this one. The two humans can't wait another year.'

"Another year?" Leo heard Donnie speak up.

"Hmm! I'm not surprised he is speaking up." Kurama noted.

The eldest turtle had a feeling that his younger brother would speak up about this. Ever since he laid his eyes on the girl, he seemed to have fallen in love. And even worse, she saw them. If that girl revealed to Donnie that she didn't like him, he would be heartbroken.

"Hah! Has anyone forgotten that people were kidnapped!" Donnie exclaimed. "They don't have a year! Sensei, we have to do something now!" Splinter glared at his genius son, now wondering why he had said that.

"You weren't there Sensei," the turtle began. "You didn't see the way that girl looked into my eyes. She was scared. And she was counting on me…"

His three brothers glared at him in annoyance.

'Way to let your secret crush out,' Leo thought. 'And thank you for not mentioning one of us.'

"Love can blind a person sometimes, or even consume them," the kitsune stated. "My previous jinchuriki was able to keep my power at bay because of her love for the Hokage…" He snarled out the last part in hatred towards the one who sealed him.

"Uh, us!" Donnie went back to correct himself, now realizing the slip up that he had made. "To save her!"

He looked back at Splinter, silently praying for him to reconsider. His brothers turned their gaze off of his and towards the rat master as well. Splinter meanwhile, had turned his head towards a small shrine he had made when they first found the lair. On it were a few of his personal belongings from his human life, as well as a picture of Tang Shen, his wife, and his daughter Miwa, who had both perished in a fire.

Leo began to ponder this. 'I can't help but feel that there's more to the story,' he thought. 'The way Splinter described Shen seemed too suspicious to what happened. Shen would've been around Miwa the entire time, so how could have his daughter perished? It feels like the baby wasn't there at all. And how did Splinter even escape the fire to begin with?'

"Yes, you must save her," Splinter affirmed, now turning back to his sons.

Leo became happy that his Sensei made the right choice. However, something still irked him.

'I don't think he came up with that idea all on his own,' Leo pondered. 'Kurama, how does the whole thing with spirits work in your dimension?'

"Those who die go to the Pure Land," he answered. "Those souls then watch over the ones that are living. They can be summoned as well. However, I do know much else."

'Maybe Tang Shen helped him…' Leo thought. Then, another thought crossed his mind.

"I agree, Sensei, but in that fight we weren't exactly a well-oiled machine," he stated, which earned him a scoff from Kurama.

"You suck at analogies," the fox noted. "Almost as bad as your naming skills,"

'Just because I named the stuffed lion plush that Sensei found in the sewer when I was five 'Mr. Fluffykins' doesn't mean I'm terrible at naming!'

"You should still leave the nicknaming to your youngest brother," ''Fine…'

"Yeah, like that robot with the brain-thingy," Mikey said, earning a glare from Raph.

"Give it a rest," Raph retorted back to him, with a hint of anger.

Earlier, Mikey had told his three brothers that he had seen some sort of robot with a brain inside the chest area. Leo wasn't there at the time, since he was recovering from the van, but he knew Mikey wasn't lying, as he had seen the robot, or Kraang as it called itself, on the roof of the van. But he wouldn't tell his brothers about that.

"Hmm," Splinter hummed, closing his eyes in thought and stroking his beard. "If you to fight more efficiently as a team, you are going to need a leader."

That was the moment when Leo's eyes widened as he looked down towards the floor, hoping and praying that his family wouldn't see the sense of nervousness going through his system.

'NO! NOT NOW! I DON'T WANT THIS!'

He knew what was coming. He knew it since the first thing he could remember in his life. The way Splinter looks at him. The way he expects him to act. The fact that he was the oldest. Mikey was too young and foolish. Donnie was too grounded and focused. Raph was too full of anger and hatred. Leo knew this day would come, and he dreaded it…

It was the day he would be in charge of his brothers. Permanently…

Leo knew what that meant. It meant putting up with Mikey's constant whining about his orders. Donnie second guessing him. And worst of all, himself and Raph getting into fights more often. Time for learning new jutsu would now be put on hold, and this would go for any free time he wanted to use as well, as it would be taken up for planning, keeping the team together, as well as probably stress. And even worse, there would probably be even more training from his Sensei, and at this point he knew for a fact while he barely knew any jutsu, he was at the strength level of his father.

"I should be the leader!" Raph exclaimed with pride. "I kicked all of your butts."

"Hey wait a minute," Donnie began. "I'm smarter than all you guys put together. It should be me!"

"No way, it should be me!" They all turned to Mikey, who had a serious look on his face. They expected him to have some sort of reason. But to their surprise, he didn't.

"I don't really have a reason. I just think it would be neat."

Splinter turned around and began to head into his personal room. "This is a difficult decision," he began, as he opened the door.

The rat master walked in, eyes now focused on his sons. He grabbed the edge of the door. "I will meditate on it," he stated, and closed the door. Leo and his brothers stared at the door.

"Now's your chance to say something," the fox advised.

That was when Leonardo was about to make his move. A few seconds later, Splinter came out.

"It's…hmm?" he began, but he then noticed something.

Leonardo was missing.

"Leonardo?" he asked. His three other sons looked around, eyes widening in shock. When did their brother leave? They didn't even notice him leave!

"Leo?" Raph asked. There was no answer.

"Dude…" Mikey trailed off, amazed by the sight. "I didn't even see him leave! What if he secretly has like a teleportation ability or something?"

A second later, they heard a door slam. All three turtles immediately got up, and ran to the entrance of the dojo. The doors to their rooms were closed, but now the bathroom door was closed as well.

Meanwhile, Leonardo sunk down to the floor in agony, shell against the wall, with his hands grasping the top of his head. He began to groan in pain, as what appeared to be a massive headache attack began to form. The turtle clenched his teeth, trying his best to hold back a scream. His eyes were squinted shut, and his face writhed in pain. Why had this started? A few seconds ago he was fine, but as soon as his Sensei came in and began to, most likely, announce the fact that he was going to be leader, it began to feel like someone had declared war on his head.

'Kura...ma…' he tried to mentally call out to the fox. 'What's...happening… to me?'

"How am I supposed to know?!" the fox roared. "Did you think that I would start this?!" Kurama was feeling the effects of the headache as well.

'No...I was just thinking...about a way to stop this!'

The pain was starting to become too much. Leo decided that it was better to lie down on the ground. He could hear the sound of banging on the door.

'Please stop…' he mentally cried out in agony, as the loud noise coming from the door made it even worse. The turtle was now struggling to keep his eyes open. Darkness was now beginning to surround him.

'No...must stay awake!' But it was no use. At last, the darkness consumed him. The last thing he heard was the door slamming open and someone shouting, "Leonardo!" However he couldn't tell who it was. Everything faded into nothingness…

Warmth. Softness. These were the first things Leonardo felt as feeling began to return to his body. He slowly began to open his eyes. Once he did, he began to panic, as he wasn't in his turtle form, but rather his lion form.

'Shoot! They're going to see me like this!'

When he began to get up however, he felt orange fur next to him. It was one of Kurama's tails. Leo sighed in relief, now knowing that he was in his own mindscape.

(1) Leo felt Kurama shift a little. The giant fox was lying down as well, eyes closed. But suddenly, they began to open as well. "Kurama?" Leo asked. The kitsune yawned, his ears perking up as he realized his jinchuriki was awake.

"Finally you're up," Kurama answered. "Hrmmm," Leo moaned clenching his head.

"I feel like I got hit by a bus. What happened?" He looked at the giant fox for an answer.

"You've been unconscious for three hours," the fox answered.

"THREE HOURS?!" Leo exclaimed.

"Heh! It's better than three months!" Kurama smirked at this.

"I guess," the lion admitted. He sat up, ears lowering. "Any idea why something like that happened?"

"No," the fox stated. "I haven't felt pain like that in a very long time."

The lion began to ponder this. An event like that had never happened before, as far as he could remember. Even Kurama had no idea. So how did this happen.

"I don't understand," Leonardo began. "One minute I'm worrying about the consequences about me becoming the leader, the next I'm rushing to the bathroom, feeling like my head was smashed open. Then I collapsed. This never happened before. So why did it happen now?"

"Stress?" Kurama wondered aloud.

"I don't think so," Leo answered. "I was perfectly ready to say, 'I don't want to handle the responsibilities of leadership.' And yet, I still don't know what happened. It felt like...deja vu I guess…" He began to attempt to stand up.

"I have to wake up. The guys are probably out there without me!"

But as soon as he got to his feet, his head began to spin. Leo held the side of his head with his right paw, however his body began to sway. Just as soon as he was about to hit the ground, Kurama used one of his tails support him.

"And I suppose you will find your brothers like that?" Kurama sneered at him, knowing full well that Leonardo was in no shape to go.

"What else am I supposed to do? Let them go off on their own without me?"

"There is another way, you know…" the fox inquired.

"Wait, there's another…" Leo trailed off. He began to think about it. What was this other way Kurama was speaking of? Leo was too tried to control his own body, so that meant…

"No! We are not doing that!" Leo yelled.

"If I recall, someone just recently lost a bet with me…" Kurama smirked. The lion sat there in shock. He remembered he lost the bet yesterday! Mikey had found his old training area!

"Don't you remember the last time we did something like that?!" Leo stated. "I lost a bet with you and you were able to control my body for one day. And don't you remember how suspicious my brothers and my father were for the next week because of your actions!?"

"Believe me, in this situation, I wouldn't do anything like that, nor would I do anything like that ever again," the kitsune promised.

"But they'll still notice the red eyes, and did I mention the voice?!" Leo noted.

"Think about it like this, I control your body, but you control your voice. How about that?"

Leo thought about it for a moment. It could work, except for the fact that his eyes would be red. But he could probably make up some excuse for it.

"Fine…" Leo sighed. "But don't do anything stupid!"

"You must stay in your mindscape. You will be able to watch what I am doing." He said.

"Got it."

Kurama sat up and got into a sitting position. He put his two paws together, both of them flat. The fox closed his eyes. Leo watched, as he began to feel himself waking up, but resisted the urge to leave his mindscape. He too, sat up in a sitting position, crossing his legs.

Kurama opened his eyes. He was met with a high ceiling, and the cold temperature of a table.

'We must be in Donnie's Lab,' Leo thought. He sighed in relief. 'It's a good thing they didn't put me in my room. There's way too much they would've seen as suspicious.'

The fox, now inhabiting the turtle's body, slowly sat up, taking in his surroundings. It had been a while since he felt the real world, and not the stone ground of Leonardo's cave mindscape.

He looked down, now seeing his now three-fingered hands.

"Ugh, I don't know how you ever got used to these," the fox complained.

Leo turned, and noticed that Kurama was talking in his mindscape, his eyes still closed.

"Better yet, I don't understand how you're used to walking on two legs!"

'That's why I transform when I want to use jutsu,' Leo stated. The fox looked around, and noticed a small metal plate next to him. He picked up, and he saw his reflection. Unlike Leonardo, the turtle's eyes were now red.

'At least no whisker marks formed,' the lion stated.

Using his sensory abilities, Kurama scanned the area. Fortunately, and unfortunately, the only thing he sensed was Splinter, who was sleeping. However, this confirmed Leonardo's suspicion that his brothers left without him.

'Great,' he thought. 'Looks like we have to get out of here without Splinter noticing and find them. Argh, we don't even know where they are!'

Next to the turtle's body were his katanas.

'Well at least someone was thoughtful enough to leave them here…' Kurama picked up the katanas, putting them on his "shell."

"This is even weirder than last time," he admitted.

'Last time, you only took control of my voice, not my body!' Leo stated. 'We have to get out of here before Splinter notices that I'm awake!'

Carefully, the turtle got off the table, noting to have his movements be as silent as possible. He looked to his left, noticing some shurikens with the Hamato symbol on them. Kurama grabbed a few.

Slowly, he began to creep out of Donnie's Lab, and into the main living area of area.

"The rat's still sleeping," Kurama noted.

'Good, then it should be easy going from here,' Leo said.

He ran towards the turnstiles, and in one leap, went completely over them without even having to put a hand on them. Kurama raced out of the lair and into the sewers. Once they were far enough away, the fox cranked up the speed, now running even faster.

The fox began to form the signs for the Transformation Jutsu. Once it was done, a puff of smoke appeared, and the turtle was engulfed in it. After it dissipated, the turtle was gone, and in its place was a lion. He lifted up the manhole cover, jumping up and onto the street. Then, he leaped from the ground up to the top of a building he was next to. From there, he resumed his run.

"I did not realize how much chakra the kid had," Kurama thought. "He has a large amount of chakra, even though he wasn't born with any and I gave him some. His body is definitely able to generate its own chakra now, but this...this is something interesting. His speed is unbelievable. If he tried, he could be as fast as the Hokage, hmmm…"

'Alright, we need to find out where they went first,' Leo said. Kurama stopped and knelt to the ground.

'Let me take over.'

"Are you sure you are capable of handling it?" the fox inquired. "You will be sensing an entire city's life force. Can you handle it?"

'I'll be fine,' Leo answered.

At that moment, the two switched places. Kurama opened his eyes, as Leo was sent back to the real world.

He opened his eyes, revealing blue irises once more. Leo placed his finger on the roof of the building, and began to focus. He was able to feel so many life forces, but they weren't the ones he was looking. His head began to hurt a little, as Leo wasn't entirely used to something like this. However, he finally felt a different life force than human life force. His brothers. They were inside some large compound on the eastern side of the city.

'Found them!' he mentally cheered. Leo opened his eyes. Then, he began to run east.

'They're heading towards some sort of compound in the eastern part of the city. Somewhere where it's open enough to build a place like that. And from what I could gather, I think those 'Kraang' as they called themselves must be there too. That must be where they're hiding the girl!'

The lion leaped over a build in a single building in one bound, not even breaking a sweat.

"If that's the case, then your brothers are running in blindly," Kurama admitted.

'Crap, you're right.' Leo said. 'They have no idea what they're getting into. They don't know the building plan, where the girl is being held, and who knows how many of those 'Kraang' there are in that one base! They probably don't…' He trailed off, realizing what he was about to say. (1!)

(2) '...have a plan,' Leo finished.

The lion stopped his running for a moment. He looked down to his feet and sighed.

'Now I know why Sensei wanted to choose me as leader,' he admitted. 'It's because I'm the best candidate for it. I'm the best out of all four of us when it comes to this sort of stuff. He knows that, after seeing me grow up. And yet…" He sat down, hanging his legs over the side of the building.

'I don't want it,' he answered.

"Your chakra is screaming fear," Kurama noted. "You don't want it because you fear it don't you?" Leo nodded.

'It's just, whenever I think about it, I just think about what'll happen when I'm leading. My brothers in pain and suffering. They're injured and dying. Heck, they don't even listen to me in the first place! How can I lead a team that won't even listen to me!?'

'I'm just...scared. One minute my brothers and I are fighting in an argument, the next they're all dead and gone because of my orders. I don't want the responsibility because I'm scared of it. I love my brothers, I would do anything to protect them, but I couldn't imagine what would happen when one or all three of them end up dying because of my actions!'

"All shinobi must face this fear," the kitsune stated. That is, unfortunately, how the shinobi world works. Pain. Suffering. Death. Shinobi are placed in teams, with one leading. All of these fears and woes are something they must face every single day. However, I believe you will be able to face this fear. And, it is most likely in our best interest to not spark a flame with the rat."

'But, your freedom…' Leo began.

"That can wait," Kurama answered. "There are more important tasks at hand. And, in order to keep my existence a secret, it is best to not let out any more anger."

The kitsune hates saying those words. He wanted freedom. He needed freedom. Kurama hated the fact of being imprisoned. But, he was sealed inside of Leonardo, someone who understood him, for what he truly is. He could wait for his freedom a little while longer.

'I just feel bad,' Leo admitted. 'Having to keep you inside of me longer.'

"Heh! If I wanted my freedom that badly I would've tried to break out of you years ago!" Kurama stated. A smile formed on Leo's face.

'Thanks Kurama,' he said.

"Take it as an IOU," the fox replied. Leo froze.

'Hey wait a minute! You're going to force me to do something for you!'

"Well, I'll rampage across the city then, how does that sound to you?" Kurama sarcastically replied.

'Wait wait wait! I take it back! I take it back!' Leo could hear the fox erupt with laughter.

'Alright, let's go find the guys!' (2!)

With the amount of chakra and speed he possessed, Leo was able to get to the compound. Before he went anywhere near it, he released the jutsu, turning back into a humanoid turtle. As he neared the entrance, he noticed something odd. The entrance was on fire! How did that happen?

(3) 'I have a feeling they had something to do with it,' Leo thought. The turtle could see broken car parts all over the place.

'Did they make a diversion by stealing a van?!'

It was a smart choice, but even so, having the van being stolen and now blown to bits could've attracted anyone. And it did. Leo looked above where the fire was, and saw four men that look identical to each other, with the same kind of blaster the Kraang had while he was hanging on for dear life on the van.

"Those humans, they are not humans," Kurama started.

"I sense a different presence coming from them. They are most definitely alien."

'So what you're saying is that the Kraang use the same robot bodies to disguise themselves as humans?'

"It is most likely. Earlier you fought beside you brothers, and those looked exactly the same. They must be mass producing them somehow."

'I've got to find them!'

He ran far away from the entrance, then jumped as high as he could. Thanks to his chakra, Leo was able to completely jump over the wall with ease! The guards didn't even notice him. Once over the wall, Leo made his way towards the building, where on the side of it, was a conveniently opened air vent.

'Hmm, I wonder who opened this?' He thought.

Within seconds, the turtle made his way through the ventilation system. He looked down, and noticed a grate that went over a hallway. He opened it carefully, making sure not to make a sound, and dropped down from above.

'Woooaahhh,' Leo thought. The hallway was covered in tons of alien technology. The walls were white, with pink lights going up and down the sides. The floor was completely black. It was definitely something that would never appear on Earth.

'Looks like something out of…'

"Space Heroes?" Kurama chuckled.

'Hey! It's a great show and I like it!' Leo admitted.

"There are better options...but I find the concept of humans in space rather interesting…"

Once again, Leo put his finger on the ground, trying to sense the girl's life force. Within seconds, he was able to find her. He ran down the hallway, being mindful of any Kraang that stalked the hallway. So far, nothing seemed to notice him. And so far, he couldn't find any trace of his brothers. So if he sensed them earlier, then where were they? Leo kept thinking about this as he ran. However, he would've kept going if not for a…

"Hold it Leonardo!"

The shout from the fox startled the turtle, and, since he was still in mid-run, caused him to trip and fall to the ground.

"Hrrrmmm," he groaned, now feeling the impact. 'What'd you do that for?' the turtle asked.

"If you were paying attention, you just ran past the humans!"

'Wait what?!'

Leo turned around, and noticed a strange door, one with an electric lock on the side of it. There was a small viewing window with pink glass in front of it. And as he looked inside, he saw them!

'Found them!'

Both the girl and the man were a bit frightened by his appearance. But, they soon calmed down.

"Are you alright?" Leo asked.

The girl, stunned by the fact that he was asking her a question, answered him. Then, she noticed that it was the being with the blue mask who saved her earlier.

"Yea...yeah! We're alright," she answered hesitantly.

"Are you injured?" he asked.

"No," the redheaded girl answered him immediately.

"Good. I'm going to try to get this door open." Hope filled the girl's soul, but there was still hesitation in her being.

"Ok...giant, lizard thing…" she answered, still nervous.

"Well, turtle, more or less," Leo answered.

He could feel the negative emotions coming from here. She was scared. Mostly likely scared because of the fact of the situation she was in. Being kidnapped by aliens is definitely something no one wants. But also, she could be scared by why he was here. Why was he helping them?

"Ask her some questions," Kurama suggested. "Get her mind off of the situation."

'Good idea,' He looked next to the door and saw the lock. Carefully, the turtle removed the outer layer. Leo's eyes widened as he noticed the complexity of the lock.

'How am I supposed to unlock this!?' he thought. 'Where's Donnie when you need him!?'

After that, he regained his calm composure, making sure to not make the girl freak out at the fact that there was a possibility he couldn't open the door.

'I can't attack the door. I could break through it, with my chakra, but that'll just make them even more panicked.'

"My name's Leonardo," he said as he looked up at her. "But I'm mostly called 'Leo.' What's your name?"

'There, nice and simple,' he thought.

"Why did you tell her your name?"

'I have a feeling that we'll probably be seeing each other more often after this, especially since the Kraang are after her for some reason. And, now she knows of our existence anyway.' The girl was a bit surprised he asked for her name, but she told him anyway.

"April," she answered.

"That's a nice name," he answered. Leo dug his hands deeper into the lock.

"Not to be intrusive or anything, but do you have any idea why these guys kidnapped you?"

"I wish I knew," April answered him. "That van just randomly pulled up to us." She looked out the window, only seeing him around. Weren't there three other turtles with him?

"Hey, weren't there others with you?" April asked. Leo sighed at her comment.

"Yes, but they, well uh…"

"Abandoned you?" The kitsune answered.

"Left without me," Leo finished. "In truth, we were all coming here to get both of you out of here. But, for some reason, I got sick with a headache and fell unconscious for a short time. And when I woke up there were gone. No note or anything."

"Are they...friends of yours?" she asked.

"Brothers," he answered. "Younger brothers."

"Oh…" April trailed off.

Somewhere in her heart, she for some reason felt pity for the turtle, even though she just met him. The thing he just said didn't seem right.

"I'm sorry," April said to him. Leo was surprised by this, but he continued on.

"It's alright," he told her. "It's just...I don't know. I feel upset that they left me behind and didn't bother to…" (3!)

WOO! WEE! WOO! WEE! An alarm began to blare throughout the compound. The lights began flashing pink. April drew back from the door, frightened by the noise. Leo however, only grunted in frustration.

"I wonder who set that off?" Kurama said.

"Great," Leo scoffed. "They probably set the alarm off!" He tried to keep his voice low, as he continued to work at the lock. However, Leo wasn't having a lot of luck with it.

After about thirty seconds, the security alarm died down. 'Finally,' the turtle sighed in relief.

But then, he heard the sound of running feet coming towards him. Leo thought it was the Kraang, until he heard the jingle jangle of weapons.

'There they are!'

He could see Donnie running in the front, ahead of Raph and Mikey. The purple masked turtle's eyes widened has he saw his blue masked brother, which he last remembered, was still unconscious.

"Leo?!" He cried out, but not too loud.

Both Mikey and Raph were shocked to see their eldest brother here. They all came to a halt in front of him.

"How'd you get here?!" Donnie asked.

"More importantly, why aren't you at home?" Raph asked, a little irritation in his voice. Leo sighed.

"It's not important," the eldest turtle stated. "And why didn't you leave me a note or something telling me that you were gone?! I woke up and no one was there!"

"Well, we didn't think you would wake up till we got back!" Raph stated. "And besides, Splinter would've told where we were and...wait," Donnie paused.

"Did you leave the lair without telling Splinter?"

The blue masked turtle immediately became nervous. "Well...I…."

"Dude, you went against Master Splinter?" Mikey exclaimed. "You like never go against him! Like ever! He's so gonna kill you when we get home!" Leo scowled in agitation at his youngest brother's reply.

'No need to rub it in my face,' he thought.

Then, he heard the sound of weapons firing and looked ahead of the three turtles. More Kraang were appearing, and they weren't happy.

"What did you guys do?!" Leo yelled in anger. "Did you guys set off the alarm earlier too?" Both Donnie and Raph's eyes angrily trailed to Mikey.

"Umm, about that," the orange masked turtle laughed nervously. "I kinda accidentally threw one of those brain thingys at the alarm button. Hehe." His right hand grabbed the back of his head as the youngest turtle began to sweat from the nervousness.

Leo's mouth nearly dropped to the ground. "Confirmed, you live in a world of idiotic beings," Kurama snorted in frustration.

'I figured that out years ago,' he replied. 'And are you kidding me! Did Raph and Donnie not do anything to stop that from happening?' The droids came nearer, blasters powering up. His blue irises widened, and he began to think fast.

'I can't open this lock,' Leo thought. 'But someone else can!' The was when the Kraang began firing, grabbing his brothers' attentions.

"We'll hold them off!" Leo stated. "You pick the lock!" the last part of it was directed at Donnie.

The eldest turtle unsheathed his swords and got into a fighting stance.

"We will?" Both Raph and Mikey asked. Leo's patience ran thin at that moment.

"Unless you want to get stir-fried, then help me!"

A tint of red filled his irises, making them appear darker, and his teeth turned sharper in anger. His brothers didn't notice the sudden difference, however the message already gotten their point across as he saw them fearfully scramble to grab their weapons.

Leo ran ahead of them, swinging his sword in front of him and deflecting the oncoming plasma shots from their weapons. Once he got close enough, he immediately sliced at the robot, cutting its body in two with ease. The turtle turned around, seeing Raph and Mikey handling the robots with ease. However, he could see his purple masked brother chatting with April.

'Oh come on…!'

His thought process wasn't finished, as he was shoved far back by one of the Kraang. He ended up slamming into Donnie, whose face was smashed against the pink glass. Leo backed away from him with an angry look on his face.

"The lock Donnie!" the turtle yelled.

"Oh, right! Yeah, sorry!" his genius brother apologized nervously, and immediately went back to work. Leo rushed back into the battle.

"Five bucks he takes his time," the fox bets. Leo could only scoff at that.

'It's going to happen,' he thought.

The turtle could sense the arrival of more Kraang coming their way. As he fought his way through Kraang, he saw Raph push a Kraang to the ground near Donnie. The red masked turtled noticed how long Donnie was taking, and decided to take action.

"Oh for the love of! Get out of my way!" the turtle shouted, immediately shoving Donnie away from the lock.

Raph then began to jab his sai into the control panel over and over again, hoping that it would cause something to make it open. And after a few more jabs, it did open. However, when Donnie and Raph got inside, they noticed that the door on the other side was open, and April and her father were being carried away by the Kraang.

"No!" she screamed, catching the attention of both Leo and Mikey.

They caught up with their two others, just in time to see April carried away. Plasma shots began to ring out as the Kraang fired at them with their blasters. All four turtles ran after April and her father, who had already been taken outside. Once they ran through the door and made it outside, Raph looked behind them and saw the Kraang coming. He shut the door, but one of the robots reached its arm through. So he grabbed the arm, dislocated it from its host, pushed the robot back, and put the robot arm through the door handles, keeping it shut.

"That'll hold em'," Raph said, as he turned to his brothers.

The three other brothers looked at him in slight shock, their eyes widened.

"What?" Raph asked.

"You, are seriously twisted," Leo answered.

"Please, that's barely even twisting it," Kurama stated. "There's that one time where I…"

'Not now!' Leo interrupted.

"Thanks," Raph replied. Then the four brothers ran off in search of the family.

"No! Let me go!" Leo heard shouting, and saw April and her father being led away above them.

"Let's get em'!" he shouted to his brothers, and they followed him.

"I am surprised and somewhat impressed that your brothers are actually listening to you," the kitsune said.

'I don't know, it's probably because we're in a dire situation. Besides once it's over, they're not going to listen to me.'

However, before they could follow any further, something stopped them. Leo gasped, and saw what appeared to be a giant plant monster right in front of him. It has big yellow eyes on the side of its head, and venus fly trap like claws coming from where its arms would be. An organ, possibly a heart, was somewhat encased in plant material in the center of it.

"You did this to me! Now you are going to pay!" It shouted at the turtles. The blue masked turtle stared at his brothers in confusion.

"What the heck did you guys do now?" he asked.

"Oh, oh, oh! I'm good at stories!" Mikey shouted. "So we basically met this guy named Snake, and he showed us where to go! Then we stole a van!"

"Mikey!" both Donnie and Raph yelled.

"What?" he answered. "I'm just telling Leo what happened. And you'd think he would mutate into a snake." Raph became annoyed.

"Yeah you would, if you were an idiot!" the red masked turtle argued.

"But his name is Snake!" Mikey said.

"So?" Raph answered back.

"You don't understand science." Mikey finally admitted.

While the two turtles argued, Leo noticed that the mutant weed, apparently named Snake, shifting his body, as he separated his legs, which stuck to each other when he was mutated. Now that the new mutant was mobile again, he loomed over the brothers, now catching the attention of Raph and Mikey.

"I'll crush you turtles!" the mutant growled.

"Uh, would it help if we said that it was an accident?" Donnie asked.

In response, the mutant hissed and growled, clenching his claws in anger. The turtles backed away from him.

"So, I'll put you down as a no?" Donnie said fearfully.

Snake got even angrier, and swung his long vine-like arm at the four turtles. Leo, reacting quickly, avoided the attack by jumping over it. Seeing an opening, the blue masked turtle jumped forward, slicing the vine arm in half. Some strange purple ooze came out of the severed vine.

"Eww, eww!" Mikey backed away as the purple ooze began to drip onto the ground near him. "Don't let it touch me! Don't let it touch me!" he screamed. However, despite his pleas, some of the purple ooze landed on his leg.

"Ahhhhh! It touched me!" Mikey screamed. Leo however rolled his eyes.

"I don't think I've ever wanted to slap him harder," Kurama groaned. The blue masked turtle inwardly chuckled at this.

He looked back at Snake, and noticed that the plant mutant was beginning to regrow his arm. A new claw had formed at the end of it, and Snake clenched it multiple times to see if he could use it to his advantage. It was, and he smiled in pleasure.

"It grew back?" Donnie said in surprise. "No fair!"

(4) However, brought Leo's attention away from the plant mutant. The sound of an engine starting up brought his eyes over to a flat area above. A helicopter was beginning to start up from a landing pad, with April and her father being led into it. She looked back at Leo, fear filling her eyes. He began to think about what to do next.

'If that helicopter takes off while I'm on it, I could rescue both of them and be able to survive the fall. Although...leaving my brothers to deal with Snake isn't a good idea either. Their weapons can't damage him well enough.'

"As much as I hate to admit it, you must let your brother Donatello go after it," the kitsune answered. "He'll know how to stop that thing. And, you most likely don't want him to be angry at you for the fact that you stole is 'girlfriend.' Hehehe!"

Leo's face blushed in embarrassment.

'I do not like her!' he stated in fury. The turtle turned to Donnie.

"Donnie, go!" he yelled.

Said turtle nodded to him, putting his Bo staff back onto the strap on his back. He ran at Leo, who had both of his hands together. Donnie jumped up, and his foot landed on Leo's hands. The blue masked turtle then pushed Donnie up, with enough strength to get him to the top of the building.

He turned back to his other two brothers, who were both busy fighting Snake. Leo began slicing away at the oncoming vines, but was eventually pushed back. The three turtles stared at Snake as he began to approach them once more, a grin form with whatever teeth the plant mutant still had left.

"Snakeweed is really powerful!" Mikey shouted. Both Leo and Raph turned to the orange masked turtle in confusion.

"Snakeweed?" Raph asked him.

"Yeah! His name was Snake, and now he's a weed, so…" Mikey continued but was soon interrupted by his red masked brother.

"We get it!" Raph stated in anger.

"We just have to hold it off until Donnie gets back!" Leo shouted at the two of them, getting annoyed at their bickering. Unfortunately for them, the door that Raph had managed to keep shut opened, and Kraang droids began to come out with blasters.

"You spoke too soon, as usual," Leo heard in the back of his head.

"While not getting shot by alien robots," he finished reluctantly.

"With brains!" Mikey shouted back.

"Let it go man," Raph told Mikey, somewhat annoyed.

They were surrounded by the Kraang on one side and Snakeweed on the other. Immediately, Leo and Mikey ran at the Kraang droids, while Raph handled the mutant weed.

Both the eldest and youngest turtle were handling the robots fne, until a barrage of plasma blasts came their way. They jumped away, just missing them. However, to their luck, the plasma blasts hit Snakeweed instead. The mutant didn't like it, so in response he used one of his vines to mow down both the robots and the turtles.

"What's the plan again, chief?" Raph stated. They began to push themselves off of the ground.

"I'm working on it!" Leo said in annoyance at the fact that his brother expected him to have a plan. But before he could say anymore, one of Snakeweed's vines wrapped around Leo's leg, carrying him upward.

"Woahhh!" The plant mutant began swinging him around frantically, until he stopped in front of some kind of generator.

"Hmm, have your brothers lead the mutant towards the generator!" Kurama suggested. "Then, when the Kraang fire at him, it'll cause the generator to explode!"

'Perfect!' he thought. Snakeweed began to swing the turtle around again.

"Raph, Mikey!" he yelled, then immediately put his sword in his mouth. He used hand signals to tell them what to do.

Surprisingly, they nodded to him. With the plan now in motion, his brothers ran and distracted Snakeweed long enough to for him to slice the vine that was holding his leg. Raph and Mikey led the plant mutant in front of the generator. They turned around and noticed the Kraang droids, which they began taunting. In response, the droids started firing at them. Both turtles avoided the blasts, but this in turn pushed Snakeweed right next to the generator.

Leo jumped on top of the generator, now pulling out the shurikens that he had gotten earlier. He threw them at the plant mutant, but only three hit him, and the fourth sailed over the Kraang's defense wall and into the night. Nevertheless, it caught Snakeweed's attention, as he turned around to face the turtle.

"Hey come and get me Stinkweed! Ahhhhh!" he taunted the mutant, sticking his tongue out with his hand in front of his face. In anger, Snakeweed tried to hit Leo with his claw, but he jumped in time, just to land on the plant mutant's back.

"Hehehehe!" he laughed, with his tongue stuck out and himself patting the bottom of his shell. The Kraang, not knowing any better, fired at the blue masked turtle.

"Jump!" Kurama yelled.

Leo did so, just in time for the plasma blasts. Then, after a few of them hit the generator, Snakeweed was shocked with electricity as it exploded, taking the plant mutant with it. The turtle immediately rejoined his brothers and April and ran away from the Kraang base. (4!)

(5!) April had showed them where her house was when they were taking her home. Turns out that her and her dad were only a block away from their own before they got kidnapped. Not only that, but the location of the lair was very close by to her house, so if she needed anything they could come over quickly.

"Are you going to be alright?" Donnie asked April. Leo nearly rolled his eyes.

'Geez Don, give the girl some space,' he thought. 'She just had all of these probably random events happen in her life today. Not only that, but we weren't able to rescue her dad either.'

"I guess," April answered. "My aunt says I can stay here as long as I want." The blue masked turtle then sensed anger in her. The feeling flashed in her eyes.

"But I'll be a lot better when I track down the creeps that took my dad," she stated, with a hint of anger in her voice.

"April, I promise you we will not rest until we find him," Donnie reassured her.

"We won't?" Raph asked in annoyance. This earned him a jab from his older brother, as well as a flashing of fangs.

"No, we won't," Leo said to him, now angered by the fact that Raph had said this.

"Thank you," April said to them. "But it's not your fight." That was when Donnie put his hand on her knees.

"Yes, it is," he stated.

The red head could only smile at him, which made Donnie blush even more. He smiled back at her. At that moment, the turtles began to leave, with Donnie giving her a thumbs up before turning around.

However, as three of the turtles ran off, Leo stood there staring into the night.

'I probably should go back and grab that shuriken,' he thought. 'Who knows what'll happen if someone finds it.'

"I must agree, but your brothers will most likely not want you running off now, especially after you showed up to help them." Kurama suggested.

'Yeah, but…'

"Wait Leo!"

He heard the sound of April's voice calling to him. He jumped back down onto the fire escape where she was.

"Yes?" he said.

"I...I just wanted to thank you for helping me earlier," she said.

"Oh, it wasn't really that much of a big deal," he admitted.

"It was to me. And I must thank you and your brothers for doing all of this." Leo nodded, then began to leave.

"Do you think we'll see each other again?" she asked. The blue masked turtle scoffed.

"If I know Donnie, I highly doubt he wouldn't want to see you again." He turned away from her.

"But, if you want to know my opinion..." Leo looked back at April.

"I think so," the turtle finished. "Take care of yourself April. Let us know if anything happens."

He began to run off. April smiled and went inside and closed the window behind her. As Leo ran home, he began to enjoy the peace and quiet, until…

"April and Leonardo, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N…"

'SHUT UP!'

"While I am disappointed in you for leaving the lair without permission, because of what we witnessed from the state of your health, I am proud of you Leonardo, as you proved to be an effective leader under the most difficult of circumstances," Splinter said to him.

Both he and Leonardo were currently in the dojo, discussing what had just recently occurred.

When the four brothers returned to the lair, Master Splinter was not happy with one certain turtle. The fact that he had been so worried about his son nearly terrified Leonardo, for he almost found out what could happen because he ran off on his own. However, because of the special circumstances, Splinter did not punish him this time. Though the incident made Leo think about how cautious he should be when sneaking out.

"Thank you Sensei," he said, although he really didn't mean it.

From putting the pieces together from the mission, Leo eventually found out from Splinter telling him that he was selected for being the leader of the team. Of course, Raph was not happy about it, and neither was Leo and Kurama. However, they would try to find ways to sneak in training with Shishigami somehow.

"Have you figured out why I made you leader?" his Sensei asked him. Leo nearly paled at the question.

'I don't want to answer that! Because when I do, he'll find my hatred for it!'

"Clever rat, always finding ways to let your anger out," Kurama smirked.

'Hrrmmmm,' the turtle mentally groaned.

"Was it because I didn't plead for it?" Leo just decided to give out a random answer instead of a long thought out one, so he wouldn't have to hold back his anger.

"Yes," To his surprise, Splinter said this.

"Wait what?!" the turtle exclaimed. He had just made that answer out of nowhere, how could that be the answer?

"But you seemed so sure that you were right!"

"I am surprised I do not sense hostility from him," the fox replied. "He does not seem angry from your answer. Hmmm…"

"As a leader," the rat master began. "You will learn that there is no right and wrong. Only choices." Splinter smiled at the last part.

'That doesn't make any sense!' Leo thought.

"So you could've chose any of us?" Leo asked.

"Yes," Splinter answered.

"Even Mikey?" Leo had to ask.

"I swear if he says yes, I'm going to rip his insides out," the kitsune growled.

"No," he chuckled. "That would've been wrong."

"Everybody!" Mikey shouted from the center room, startling Leo. "Come here! We made the news!"

'Oh no,' The blue masked turtle thought in horror. 'Please don't tell me it's not what I think it is,'

Both he and Master Splinter walked into the center of the lair, where he saw Mikey and Donnie sitting in front of the TV, while Raph sat off to the side.

"A report of, get this, ninjas, in New York," the announcer said. There was a small logo next to him, showing a picture of a ninja with buildings behind him, all in an apple frame.

"Don't believe me? After residents reported a disturbance, the police recovered this."

After he was done speaking, the screen changed to something that horrified both Leo and Kurama. It was the shuriken with the Hamato Clan's symbol on it that Leo had lost earlier.

"DAMNIT!" Both of them yelled.

It was rare for Leo to curse, but this was one of those occasions where he knew that this was bad.

'I knew I should've gone back and grabbed it!' He noticed both Mikey and Donnie had wide grins on their faces.

'Are you kidding me? They're enjoying this?' The TV then changed back to the announcer.

"For Channel 6 News, this is Carlos Chiang O'Brien Gambe saying 'Hi-yah!'" That was when the announcement ended.

"This is awesome!" Mikey shouted. "Haha! We're gonna be famous!"

'NO! This is bad Mikey! How are you enjoying this?' The eldest turtle thought.

"You must be more careful," Splinter warned. "The ninja's most powerful weapon is the shadows. Being brought out into the light is a dangerous thing."

'Oh don't rub it in!' Leo thought angrily.

"Relax Sensei," Raph began, trying to say that his father was too worried about this. "It's one little news story. What's the worst that can happen?"

"We're cursed," the fox admitted.

Having enough action for the night, Leo decided it would be best to sleep. He went to his room without disturbing his family, silently closing the door. Leo took off his wrappings and mask and laid down on the bed. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. He still hadn't gotten over that shuriken.

'I should've gone back for it,' he said to Kurama.

'Who knows what could happen? That thing had the clan's symbol on it and...oh no….'

"Hmm?" the fox hummed.

'What if the Shredder that Sensei talks about sees this? He'll know that Splinter's in New York.'

'I highly doubt that the news station would broadcast as far as Japan." Kurama reassured him. "Now sleep!"

'Fine…' Leo closed his eyes and began to sleep.

However, Kurama was still up, his thoughts also swimming in his head.

"This could mean disaster if what Leonardo said happens. We'll have to train hard with Shishigami. Hmm, as bad as your luck is Leonardo, I hope it doesn't happen…" Finally the kitsune fell asleep.

Somewhere in Tokyo, a man suited in armor puts on a helmet, preparing to leave to find his old enemy…(5!)

Author's Note

That is the end of Chapter 4! Yee! Now let's get into this!

I decided to skip some points during the original episode, how the turtles met Snake, them finding mutagen in the van, Leonardo being chosen leader, and so on. Also changed up the story a bit. I don't want the story to be exactly like the original, so I'm changing it up a bit.

For those of you who don't know, the shuriken that was found was most likely from Leo, who threw one at the van Snake was driving. However since he wasn't there, I just had the shuriken fly off. He did also used them when he was fighting Snake.

Lastly, what did you guys think? Sorry it was late, I'm having fun this summer, but I will keep this story going! And I love reviews!

Hmm why is Leo having deja vu?

Until Next Time, See Ya Universe!

Palkia