Author's Note
Hello Universe! Palkia's back with Chapter 6! Yee!
Holy Arceus! 20 favorites? This story is skyrocketing! Thank you so much everyone out there in the universe! I really appreciate it! Before we get into anything…
Sonavelkovskaa5842: I had to translate this lol, but thank you dude!
I'm gonna skip ahead a few episodes, just because I think that Leo didn't have much influence over those episodes, as he wasn't the main focus. Also, trying to do every episode in the series would be a literal pain, so I won't be doing that. However, I will include what happened, as I've done with the previous chapter. But just to let you know, the Leo-centric episodes will be a high priority, as well as the most important ones and some that I'll throw in for fun.
Here's the music list!
(1) Nervous- Naruto OST 1
(2) Raikiri (Thunder Break)- Naruto OST 1
(3) Loneliness- Naruto OST 1
(4) Sadness and Sorrow- Naruto OST 1
Now, let's do it to it!
I do not own Naruto and I do not own TMNT.
Chapter 6
The Nine-Tails' Mercy
A week had passed since Leo had first started his training with Shishigami, and to some extent Kurama. And so far, the passage of time seemed rather long and never ending. It didn't help that his training caused him aches and pains. Getting the flow of chakra correct wasn't going well the first few times, so much so that it was causing him pain.
Not that Shishigami was surprised. Leonardo's body was not meant to hold chakra, and by extension not meant to be able to use it. So getting those gateways open was a priority. Yes, while the Transformation Jutsu did open some of the chakra gateways, it didn't open up the ones that most shinobi needed. And with the amount that the jinchuriki possessed, he needed more to be opened.
It was painful to say the least. The deer god had to do a personal nerve point session with Leonardo in order to open up the gateways. Otherwise, it they stayed closed, many things could happen, like his system overloading, or even worse, death. That was something the deer god had to keep in mind. Thankfully, and for some strange reason that neither Leo nor Kurama wanted to ask, Shishigami somehow knew acupressure, meaning that he could open those gateways. Unfortunately it had to be the hard way.
The gateways were close to the nerves, so by conducting these procedures, Leo's chakra would be able to flow freely from then on. This process took a while, as the deer god realized that a reptile's skin was hard as a rock, and Leonardo's more so since he was a mutant, so he had him switch over to his human form instead. This made the process more painful for the jinchuriki, but what mattered most was getting those gateways open.
Sadly for Shishigami, he felt terrified at the fact that he was looking at the Fourth Hokage, even though in reality he wasn't. It just didn't seem possible that he would somehow obtain the form of Minato, and even call himself Minato! Even worse, this form was one that was used often during training. And the way he moved...it was just sooo...Minato! Shishigami sighed. He would get over the initial shock eventually. He just had to convince himself it was just a coincidence. After all, nothing escaped the Shinigami's stomach.
Leo was fully oblivious as to why the deer god looked at him this way, but he still had some suspicions. Either way, the gateways were finally opened. And he felt a rush of power flow through his system. It felt good and natural, like it belonged to him. Now Leo just had to get the hang of it and he would be a shinobi in no time!
If only he could say that tonight.
He didn't mind though. April was taking him and his brothers out to eat somewhere tonight, which his first thought was, 'Wouldn't someone notice?' His brothers had asked her about his, but she just said that it was a surprise. How could April take them out somewhere when people would definitely notice their appearance? Oh well, guess he would find out.
Leo ran across the rooftops with ease, as his brothers took the more stealthier and fun approach as they hid behind certain areas and buildings on the ground. He hated to admit it, but they were being a bit slow. Oh how he wished he could just run off to their destination at full speed. Thankfully, April seemed to notice this.
"You guys wanna speed it up a little?" she asked, clearly annoyed.
'Thank you April! I really wanted to speed this up!' Leo thought.
"Hmm, are you saying that your girlfriend is right?" Kurama snickered from the back of his mind. In response, the turtle blushed.
'Kurama! She's not my girlfriend alright! I don't love her. Donnie loves her. And besides...things would never really work out anyway…'
The fox knew what he was getting at, as he realized that Leonardo added in a somber tone at the end of this thoughts. While April did know him, she didn't know him. She didn't know of the dangerous life he lived, as well as how much risk there would be in the future. And as much as Leo wanted to find someone, he knew that there probably wasn't out there who would accept him. No amount of Transformation Jutsu would fix that.
"Are you saying turtles are slow?" he heard Donnie question below him. He saw April turn around to see the purple-masked turtle come out from behind a movie theater ticket booth.
'Well, we have been moving at this pace for the last time minutes. Where the heck are we going anyway?'
"That's a hurtful stereotype," Leo heard Mikey say, and the blue-masked jinchuriki was more than surprised at what his youngest brother had to say.
"To think your brother is capable of such words…" Kurama stated. Leo heard the sound of the fox falling to the ground, indicating that he faked fainting. "I must be under a genjutsu…" The turtle inwardly chuckled.
'You'd be surprised by his 'smart moments' that happen once in a while. But they don't last long.'
"I wish they did."
"Trust us April," Leo said to her from the top of the building. She then noticed him up there. "We are better off keeping a low profile. We find people treat us better when they don't know we exist."
"Agreed, otherwise your annoying brother would've tried to have me come out by now and give him piggyback rides. Hrmm." Both fox and turtle had to admit that sometimes it was better for his family to not know that Kurama existed.
"Sorry," April apologized to them. "I'm just so excited to get you guys out of the sewers for a change."
Leo almost wanted to say, "But I go out every day!" but he withheld it, knowing what that would entail if it ever got out. While he was fine going out with the guys for a change, he really wanted to be out at Talbot Peak training under Shishigami. The deer god said he would be learning a new jutsu the next time he saw him after all.
"What are you talking about?" Leo heard Raph say, as he realized that his other two brothers were hiding behind the same movie theater booth, just on the opposite side of Donnie. "We go out all the time!"
"Yeah, but tonight you are going to do something besides hitting people," April said to him.
"Aww…" Raph whined, upset that he wasn't going to beat up anyone tonight.
'Maybe it's better if we don't beat up anyone tonight,' Leo thought to himself. 'I really don't feel like getting into a fight with him now.' Something clicked in the back of his mind. The way they were going seemed...too familiar. His mind filled with terror.
'Wait, isn't this the way to…'
"Don't worry, you're gonna love this noodle place I've found!"
The blood rushed out of the jinchuriki's face as he went pale. Now Leo knew exactly where he was going.
'Ohhhhh I'm so dead,' he thought. 'Oh I'm so dead. I'm so dead.'
It was like a mantra that played over and over inside his head. This was very bad. Kurama could sense Leonardo's fear, and understood it completely. If this was where they thought they were going, then secrets would spill out.
"Maybe it's not the old man's place," the fox commented. "There are tons of noodle shops in the city."
'Ye...Yeah. Maybe you're right,' he said to him, his fear dissipating. There were plenty of noodle shops in the city. They couldn't possibly go there.
"And you're sure we'll be welcome?" Donnie asked. He had every right to be nervous. It wasn't every day that four, giant turtles with ninja weapons walked into a restaurant expecting food. To his relief, April nodded her head.
"Don't worry. Mr. Murakami won't care what you look like. In fact, he won't even know what you look like. He's blind."
It felt like all the blood from Leonardo's body drained from him in an instant, his entire body going white like a ghost.
'Should I plan my funeral?' Leo thought.
The thought of going to see Mr. Murakami without being disguised as 'Minato' terrified him. The old man just had this way of finding out something without anyone giving some sort of hint towards it.
If he found out that he was Minato, then what was he to say to his brothers and April? 'I've been meeting with this guy for three years now?! Oh and by the way, there's a giant fox living inside my soul that has allowed me to transform into a human, thereby being able to come up to the surface without humans judging me?!'
"Awesome!" He heard Mikey yell.
Leo looked over at this youngest brother in confusion, only to see the orange masked turtle get smacked in the head by Raph.
"I mean, for us obviously."
This was not a good thing if they were heading over to Mr. Murakami's. What could he do to not go there? Fake sickness? No, they would see through that easily. Make an excuse, like patrolling the city? No, then April would get upset.
'Come on Leo, think!' He thought to himself. 'There has to be some way out of this!'
(1) As they neared the restaurant, the blue masked turtle couldn't help but feel a negative presence. And it was coming from the restaurant itself.
"Enemies," Kurama stated. "Inside the restaurant." Leo could sense it too.
'There's...three of them,' he processed. 'And it feels like their...attacking him!'
Without a second thought, Leo ran towards the noodle shop, ignoring the fact that his brothers were close by.
Fortunately and unfortunately for him, April noticed him run off.
"Hey guys, where's Leo going?" she asked.
The three brothers looked up, and saw the blue masked run off with great speed. Raph nearly smiled in excitement. He knew what that meant when his brother decided to run on ahead. April looked at him in confusion.
"Does he normally do that?" she asked.
"When he does that, there's usually trouble nearby," Raph smirked. "Which means we're gonna hit people tonight!"
The red masked turtle pulled out his sais and ran in the direction that his elder brother ran in. Donnie and Mikey soon followed suit, and April just shook her head.
"So much for a normal night," she sighed, then followed them.
After passing a few blocks, Leo found himself in front of the familiar noodle shop, the same one that he had been visiting for the past few years. He could hear the sounds of dishes breaking, of chairs hitting the floor, and most importantly, the sounds of punching. His chakra flared up, the turtle's demeanor now taking on a ferocious look. Leo's eyes became red with hatred, pupils becoming the size of pinpricks and more animal-like.
'Those...Jerks!' the jinchuriki thought, hatred over taking his being.
His teeth became sharp, as he bared them in anger. Leo oh so badly wanted to teach those hurting Mr. Murakami a lesson. That they shouldn't mess with the old man. Otherwise they would have another thing coming for them. However, something snapped him out of his trance, as he heard the sound of running feet behind him. His brothers and April.
Leo's chakra dissipated immediately. His anger died down, now forcing himself to hide his hatred. The turtle's eyes turned blue once more, as he calmed down finally. With his family here, he couldn't let them see him in a state like that. Leo was even thankful that they showed up, for if they didn't, he probably would've gone berserk. And he most certainly didn't want that to happen.
He had the power to sense negative emotions after all. Those emotions affected him strongly. With chakra, not only was his strength heightened, but his thoughts and emotions were as well, which meant it was hard for them to control. Especially with a tailed beast inside of him. He had to keep it in control. Otherwise who knows what could happen. All Leo knew was that he didn't want to imagine it.
"Oh no," Leo heard April behind him.
She then headed towards the door, and she seemed to know what was going on inside. The four brothers then followed her to the door.
"Who are those creeps?" Donnie asked.
"The Purple Dragons," April mentioned. "They think they own the streets around here." Her tone indicated that she was very annoyed at this.
Just as Leo and Kurama had sensed, there were three gang members inside the shop, destroying things inside. The sounds of things breaking rang inside his ears. He could understand April's annoyed tone, but his was more so hatred than annoyance. Mr. Murakami had treated him with kindness over the past few years, and with sympathy when there was no one else to talk to besides Kurama. To see the noodle shop destroyed like this...it took every ounce in his body to hold it all in.
'I should've said no and came here to work instead!' the jinchuriki thought to himself, regretting that he had said yes to April and had to turn down the old man to work the night.
'If I was here earlier, these guys would've been long gone.' The regret and failure began to set in.
"If you came here instead, based on your luck your brothers would've been able to have the slightest hint that it was you," Kurama spoke. "It would've looked suspicious to have a blonde-haired, blue eye human who walks, talks, and acts exactly like you. Believe me, I have dealt with past failures. Don't dwell upon it now. Now go hit people!"
'You've always got to bring in sadistic humor, don't you?' Leo inwardly chuckled. Despite his thoughts, the turtle now felt better about himself.
"My job is to make sure you don't go on a murder rampage throughout the city using my chakra as a source," Kurama stated.
'Wait wha..!'
"Forget it, go you stupid baka!"
"So much for not hitting people tonight…" Leo sighed, but in reality he was very happy to do so. Next to him stood Raph, who unlike the blue masked turtle, openly showed his excitement.
"Oh well," he stated happily, still shrugging off his older brother's statement. Then, Mikey kicked down the door.
"Booyakasha!" he yelled with excitement.
This however, announced their presence to the three gang members inside. Each seemed to be of Asian descent, wore black and purple, and had a dragon tattoo their arms. Yep, these were definitely the Purple Dragons. But how come Leo didn't know of them? He thought that Mr. Murakami would've told him about them at this point. Then again, maybe he didn't want him to worry.
"Huh?" one of them gasped at the sight of the four giant mutant turtles.
He was most definitely the leader of the group. The other two men then glanced over and saw the mutants as well. They stood behind their leader. Leo's eyes narrowed in anger, but the blue masked turtle tried to keep his calm composure.
"Alright, let him go," Leo began, his eyes taking on a reddish tint. "You don't want any trouble."
"We, on the other hand, do," Raph came up to him, a smirk forming on his face.
"Woah, those guys were serious," the leader of the Purple Dragons began. "They really are giant turtles." This surprised the four mutants and April, Leo especially.
'Now I really shouldn't have thrown that shuriken…' he thought to himself. The blue masked turtle still regretted that action, since all the excitement they've experienced for a while has been because of the Foot Clan.
"And you would've died otherwise," The kitsune spoke. "What have I told you about past regrets!?" The turtle nearly flustered in nervousness.
'Sorry! Sorry!' Leo mentally told him. Still, it surprised them both that the Purple Dragons gotten information about them. Who told them?
"You've heard of us?" Mikey asked, bringing Leo out of his thoughts. "Dudes, we're famous!"
"Remind me one day to slap him," he heard the fox say. The turtle inwardly chuckled.
'He always seems to make light of the situation,' he noted. 'But it's still bad that they know about us. How do they know of our existence?'
"That's bad," Donnie scolded Mikey, glaring at him.
"Oh...right," Mikey answered sheepishly, his excitement at the fact he had just heard beginning to disappear.
"Whatever you are, this neighborhood is ours," the leader of the Purple Dragons affirmed. "So why don't you slither back to the ocean you came from?"
"HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME, HUMAN!" Kurama's voice roared in Leo's mind. It took every ounce of the turtle's strength not to clench his head.
'Kurama…' he mentally said to him. While the blue masked jinchuriki also thought of it as offensive, it wasn't on the level of the fox's anger.
"Actually we're freshwater turtles," Donnie spoke up, and Leo could only silently groan inside his head.
'Oh you've got to be kidding me…' he groaned. 'Of all the times Donnie, does it have to be now?!'
"I suspect we're derived from the diamondback terrapin, but it's possible that we're common box-" (1!)
(2) "Get em'!" the lead gang member yelled.
Both fox and turtle smirked, now knowing that the genius turtle finally shut up. The brothers then ran into the fray, taking on the gang members. Leo stood back, as one of the humans, who was holding a sledgehammer, came right at him. Then, the turtle ducked as Mikey kicked the human out of the way.
Leo noticed that the leader of the gang was still behind the bar, watching the scene. The turtle then leaped over the bar counter, now face to face with the man. Something caught his attention, as his nose picked up the faint scent of iron. He glanced at the man, who he noticed had a little bit of blood dripping down his hand.
'No…' the jinchuriki thought frantically. Could they have beaten up Mr. Murakami to the point where he was bleeding.
"Unfortunately," the giant kitsune replied. "Look behind you."
The turtle glanced behind him, and his eyes widened in fear. He saw the old man crouching on the floor, a scratch of blood dripping down his face. Thankfully April had just found him, and was beginning to lead him to safety. He saw no more, as his eyes turned red in rage once again.
He turned to the leader of the Purple Dragons, who now he noticed was scared. His chakra flared up in anger. How dare he hit Mr. Murakami! Fangs began to form, and a toothy smirk formed on his face. Fox whisker marks appeared on his face. Leo didn't care if these markings showed. He didn't care that his brothers noticed his unusual behavior.
The human held out a butcher knife as a way to hopefully defend himself from the oncoming turtle. He struck at Leonardo, again and again, trying to scare him away. This however, was to no avail. The jinchuriki's irises were completely red with hatred, pupils like that of a wild animal. He didn't go into a violent rage. Instead, Leo held out his left hand behind his back and his right one in front of him calmly. The turtle walked towards the leader, his chakra glaring up and becoming more ominous by the second.
As April led Murakami out, she felt a strange feeling in the air. It felt...negative. Terrifying. Full of hatred. She became scared of it. Horrified by it. Her first instinct was to get away from it. Flee. April didn't dare look to where the source of this negative feeling was, but from what she could tell, it was in the restaurant. Nevertheless, she had a job to do, and that was to lead the old man out of the danger zone.
Leo stared into the eyes of the human in front of him, red meeting brown. Feared meeting fearful. The human struck forward with his knife again, and Leo once again dodged it. Only this time, using his right hand he knocked the knife out of his hand, leaving the human defenseless. Then, the jinchuriki struck back.
He jabbed the leader in the stomach, in the shoulder. His strikes were quick, calculated. Lastly, Leo finished it off with a roundhouse kick to the face. The human staggered back, giving the turtle enough time to pin him to the wall with his arm.
The turtle bared his teeth, now all of them had become sharp and pointed, like a fox. He pulled his fist back, ready to deal a blow to the human's face. Claws formed from his fingers, ready to slash if the leader resisted. His chakra began to feed off of the scared and terrified emotions that the human was giving off. He took pleasure in it, pride in it that he was creating fear and…(2!)
(3) Something flashed in his mind. His eyes widened, blue breaking through the red.
'What...what am I doing?' Leo thought.
In the back of his head, something was telling him that he shouldn't be doing this. It wasn't Kurama. It wasn't Shishigami. He couldn't recognize it.
'This is wrong. I can't do this.' He wasn't seeing an evil gang leader in front of him. Leo was seeing a scared human begging for mercy, something that he took advantage of.
The red disappeared from his eyes, now being replaced by blue again. The fox whiskers were gone, and his teeth became normal. Leo suppressed the raging chakra in his system, now fully aware of what he was going to use it for. His grip on the human weakened, letting him slide down to the floor. The claws on his fingers disappeared as well.
Leo gestured his head to the door, hoping that the leader of the Purple Dragons would understand what he was referring to.
"Get out of here," he growled in a low voice. The human didn't need another word, as he made his way towards the door, pushing by the turtle. The jinchuriki noticed that the other two gang members were on the floor, and the leader went over to pick them up.
"Come on," the human said to the other two. "Let's go." The two got to their feet and began to leave the restaurant. Then, the leader turned to the brothers and glared at them, mostly towards Leo.
"This ain't over Greeny!" he yelled. With that, the three hightailed out of there, leaving the four mutants behind.
"'Greeny'? Really?" Donnie commented. "I wonder how many brain cells he put to work on that."
Despite this, Leo paid no attention to him. His mind mulled over his most recent thoughts. Why had he let that guy go? Shame began to fill his system. He had gone crazy because of a guy who had hurt Murakami. He almost killed. The thought made his spine shiver.
"You just let him go?!" Raph's voice brought him back to reality.
The red masked turtle was ticked off that he didn't get to beat the humans more, as well as his older brother's actions towards the gang leader. Leo looked at him, trying to hide the shame and regret of letting negative emotions while at the same time feeling the anger of his brother slam into him like a freight train.
"They weren't exactly a threat," Leo answered to the best of his ability.
He mulled over the scene over and over in his mind. The human scared to death. His scary appearance. His desire to...kill. The jinchuriki couldn't imagine what would happen if he had killed the human. "They had enough." There was nothing else he could say about the situation. Leo wanted to move on from it.
"Dude! They were beating up a blind guy!" Raph shouted at him. "There's no 'enough'! Now they'll think we're wimps and we don't have the guts to finish the job!"
The words his brother said didn't make him feel much better. He just wanted to go home and let his mind process what had occurred earlier. But then, he felt April and Mr. Murakami come in again.
"Wow! That was great, you guys!" April exclaimed, leading Murakami back inside.
Leo looked at the old man more clearly now, now seeing that he was fine. He was glad, but at the same time he still felt a little upset. He almost killed someone because of him. The jinchuriki knew how important Mr. Murakami was to him, but to go to such lengths like that? It scared him.
"Thanks April," Donnie replied. The purple masked turtle felt pride rise up in his system. "Did you see when I caught that one guy and flipped him over the counter? I bet it looked cool." April grew a little nervous at this, but she still answered him.
"The coolest," April said. There was silence.
"You didn't see it, did you?" Donnie asked.
"No, I did not," she answered.
"My friends, I am indebted to you."
The four turtles and April turned to see Mr. Murakami. There was a sense of tiredness in his voice. The shame and regret that Leonardo had felt earlier began to fade away, now just thankful that he was alright and safe.
"Please, allow me to make you a meal. Free of charge." Leo smiled, knowing that the old man hadn't changed a bit since the incident.
"I think we can allow that," Leo heard Raph off to his side. He nearly rolled his eyes, but he chose not to say anything.
"What is your favorite dish?" Mr. Murakami asked. That was when Leo's hopes almost plummeted, knowing very well what his brothers were going to say.
'It's going to be…'
"Pizza!" the three other turtles shouted. The blue masked jinchuriki nearly facepalmed.
'Of course,' he thought. 'Oh well. I'll just get some of his specialty ramen that he makes for me.' Leo looked at a menu over on the wall, seeing the list of different types of ramen. '
"Actually Murakami-san, could I have number 4 from your ramen selection?"
His brothers turned to him, a little bit of interest and shock riddled their face. They were surprised that he actually ordered something off of the menu instead of saying pizza.
"Sure," Mr. Murakami answered, not seeming surprised in any way at the choice the turtle made. With that, he began to make their meals.
The three turtles and April took a seat at the counter, while Leonardo looked around at the restaurant.
'Seriously? They're not going to even help clean up?'
He just shook his head, knowing well that his brothers probably didn't want to help. They just wanted the food. Sighing to himself, Leo began to pick up the chairs that had been knocked over during the fight. Some were smashed or broken, along with some dishes and glassware. There were some spills as well.
'Looks like I'll have to grab the cleaning supplies from the back,' Leo thought to himself.
Once he placed the chairs back in their original positions, the jinchuriki quietly snuck into the back of the shop, knowing where the cleaning supplies were kept. It wasn't a huge area, as most of the items for the shop were kept here, as well as a stairway that led to the old man's home. The turtle opened up the storage closet, grabbing out a mop and dust pan to clean up the scraps and glass.
He stealthily came out of the backroom, and thankfully no one had noticed him doing so. His brothers and April were too invested at the display that Murakami was performing in front of them. Leo began to sweep the floor, just as he had always done for the past few years. Unfortunately, he stepped on a small piece of glass, and it took every fiber in his being to not scream out in pain.
Oh if only he was in his human form now! At least he'd be wearing shoes!
"Murakami-san, that was awesome!" He heard Donnie exclaim.
"You're like a ninja, but for food!" Mikey answered.
From this point, Leo knew that they were too interested in the way Murakami was making their food. So he continued to sweep the floor, wincing every time his left foot hit the ground from the piece of glass that cut it. He resisted the urge to say that his foot was injured, for he knew that he would be scolded for trying to clean up himself.
"Leonardo?" Kurama's voice broke through his thoughts. "You are not fine, are you?"
'No…' he trailed off. 'I...I almost lost it tonight. I almost...killed someone.'
His body shuddered at the thought. While then man he fought today wasn't innocent by any means, but he didn't deserve to be killed. He wanted to teleport far away and cry out his thoughts. Leo just wanted to be away from his family.
"Why didn't you?" the fox asked curiously. "If I was in your position, I would've killed that human regardless of his mercy begging." Leo paused his sweeping for a moment, thinking about it.
'I don't know,' he answered honestly. 'Somewhere in the back of my mind, I just remembered something. A cycle of hatred, something that keeps going on and on with more vengeance, more anger.'
'I just couldn't do it. It was wrong. And I realized at the last minute what I was doing was wrong. What could've happened if I killed him? Would I be feared by my family? Would the other Purple Dragons come and hunt me down for revenge? I guess at that moment I wanted to break it. Maybe it wasn't the best choice, but it was better than killing him.'
His answer came truthfully from his heart. This always surprised Kurama. How one could answer so full of truth was beyond him. But the fact that the turtle knew of the cycle of hatred surprised him even more. How could someone like him know of it? Kurama knew that Leonardo's never spoke about it, other than the fact that vengeance was bad. Yet just the name "cycle of hatred" coming out of the young boy's thoughts shocked him. The kitsune would have to talk to Shishigami about it.
Leo continued to sweep and clean up the floor, unaware that Mr. Murakami knew that he was cleaning up. The sound of the broom swishing across the floor caught his attention. He knew that one of the people who saved him wouldn't know where the cleaning supplies were. Only he and Minato knew. So how would he…? The pieces began to fit together. Mr. Murakami would have to ask him later.
Finally, the old man finished cooking the food. "Pizza Gyoza!" he said, now holding the food out to them on wooden sushi plates.
He placed it in front of the three turtles, then placed a bowl of soup in front of April. Leo had just finished cleaning, and put all the supplies away, somewhat limping back to one of the chairs since his foot was cut.
'Kurama? Could you…?'
"Yes, I will," the fox replied. Red-colored chakra surrounded his foot, healing it instantly.
'Arigato, Kurama,' he said to him.
"Pizza Gyoza?" April asked.
She had never heard of anything like it before, and she highly doubted it would taste good to begin with. The other three turtles took out their chopsticks, poking at the small potstickers, and finally trying them out. Their eyes widened, and they immediately began shoving the small potstickers into their mouths.
"Wow," Raph said.
"Delish!" Mikey cried out in happiness.
"It's like a one-way ticket to Flavorville!" Donnie admitted.
"This is really good too, you know," April commented, showing her soup to them.
Nevertheless, the three turtle brothers continued to dive into their food. Leo watched them with mild interest, wondering how long it would take his brothers to ever lose interest in pizza.
"Ramen," he heard Mr. Murakami announce.
Leo looked towards the old man, now seeing a delicious plate of ramen in front of him. His eyes lit up in delight, taking the bowl from him.
"Arigato, Murakami-san," Leo said to him. He placed the bowl in front of him. When his brothers weren't looking, he placed his hand over the bowl and transformed it into chakra, letting it flow into his system and giving it to Kurama.
"I am sure you will like it," Murakami said to him. "I have an apprentice here, and that is his favorite dish. You remind me a lot of him."
Leo was stunned. He didn't imagine the old man to pick up on his behavior that easily. Of course, he knew by this point that Mr. Murakami had his way of finding out things. It wasn't like Leo had to mask his entire personality this time around, otherwise his brothers would notice.
"I do?" Leo just had to ask why.
"Yes," the man answered. "He is young, just like you. His name is Minato. Both of you are well mannered and polite. He has helped me over the past few years I've known him. And I am very thankful for him."
Leo nearly blushed in embarrassment. He wasn't used to getting this amount of praise, even though no one knew it was directed at him.
The turtle dug into his meal, the familiar blend of spices and herbs hitting his tongue.
'Mmm, good as always,' he thought.
"I second that," he heard Kurama answer, who was also munching on the ramen. Donnie and Raph seemed to watch their brother in fascination.
"I didn't know Leo liked ramen," The red masked turtle whispered.
"We never had ramen, so how would he know he would like it?" Donnie couldn't help but whisper back.
The bowl was clean after a few minutes, as Leo drank the broth and finished it up. He then decided to change the subject.
"Murakami-san, do the Purple Dragons come around here often?" Unfortunately for him, the old man nodded his head.
"Hai," he answered. "They demand protecting money, but I refuse to pay. They will surely return."
And just as he expected, Raph rose to his feet, ready to scold his brother.
"Well, they wouldn't if somebody hadn't chickened out," Raph stated, glaring at Leonardo.
The blue masked turtle stood up, walking away from the others. He couldn't take it anymore. His emotions were too mixed. Leo wanted to leave and let it all out.
"I'm heading back," he answered calmly. "I just have a headache." The turtle then turned to Mr. Murakami.
"Arigato, Murakami-san," Leo said, and then went out the door. His brothers watched him leave, shocked expressions on their faces.
"Is he alright?" April asked.
"Eh, he'll be fine," Donnie assured her. "Sometimes he just needs time to himself."
She nodded, though she couldn't help but stare at the door and wonder if he would be returning or not. (3!)
(4) He cried that evening.
Leo felt as if his soul poured out of him as he cried in front of Kurama and Shishigami. The jinchuriki hated showing weakness, but he knew that it was only the fox and the deer god. They would most certainly understand.
Leo was now in his human form, recounting the night's events. Of how he and his brothers went out with April. Of how the fight with the Purple Dragons occurred. Of how he...Leo broke down at that point. He was scared of himself. At what had almost happened earlier that night. The human never thought something like that could happen.
Shishigami was pained by this. Unfortunately, he knew that something like this would happen eventually. The deer god went up to the poor boy, whose tailed beast stood by him faithfully. Kurama's ears were lowered, his head down in pity and sorrow for Leo. His red eyes met Shishigami's brown eyes, silently begging to help him out on this one. The deer nodded, and he placed his hand on the shoulder of the jinchuriki.
"I am partially to blame for this," he began. Leo looked up at him, blue eyes filled with curiosity.
"When we began your training, the chakra you possess as well as Kurama's own chakra has started to leak out from your body. This means that it has influenced your emotions and decisions more and more over time."
"Your body was never meant to experience this type of energy, meaning the tailed beast chakra has more influence over your emotions than an average one. For this, I blame myself, because I never realized this sooner and should've began your training by showing you how to suppress these chakra infused emotions."
"However, I am very impressed by your actions, Leonardo." Leo was confused by this.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"You suppressed these emotions during your fight today. You showed mercy, a sign that very few shinobi show. You have great potential Leonardo." The boy was stunned by this.
"I…" he trailed off. Leo didn't have any words.
"Do not worry," the deer answered. "I will train you to better suppress your chakra. This will come in handy for stealth missions in the future, as well as using chakra in advantage for said stealth missions." He backed away from Leo, letting the jinchuriki collect himself.
"Thank...you, Shishigami," Leo answered back.
"I also suggest to you to move your belongings that are in your room to here," the deer god suggested. "If one of your family walks into your room while you are not home and see what is inside there, they will begin to question where you had gotten them will be fine here. The Spirit Plane protects this area from harm."
"Finally, tonight we will learn how to suppress your chakra, so this may take a while." For the next few hours, Leo was in a meditative state, learning how to better control the raging chakra that existed inside of his very soul. At times, it became painful, as memories from the past would come back to haunt him. Little by little, it was becoming better and better.
"We will do this at the beginning of training," Shishigami told him.
"This is just to better your control. Work on it during meditation with your father as well. He will not notice unless it becomes blatantly obvious. Now, that is enough for today. I know you have been through much pressure today, and I will not force more upon you. Tomorrow, you will begin to bring your things here, just so your family doesn't get suspicious."
Leo bowed to the deer god in respect. "Hai, Sensei!" he answered.
It felt weird for him to say those words to someone other than Master Splinter. However, this was respect for Shishigami. The human knew of the deer god's status, and chose to respect it.
"Good, you are dismissed then," Shishigami said.
A puff of smoke appeared, engulfing Leonardo and Kurama, and the two were gone. Leo returned to his room, now a turtle once more, exhausted and beaten from the training. However, before he could fall asleep, he decided to check up on his family. Leo opened the door, half expecting his brothers to be around the TV watching something. Instead they weren't there.
"Guys?" he asked. There was no answer. He grew nervous, then ran to their rooms.
'I can't sense them,' he thought. 'Please don't tell me they went out while I was…!'
His thoughts were answered when he opened the doors to their rooms. First Mikey's room. He was gone. Donnie's room was empty, and there was no sign of him in his lab. And lastly, Raph was gone too, and the only thing left in his room was Spike.
"Leonardo?" he heard Master Splinter behind him.
"Sensei," he said to him. "Do you know where the guys are?" he asked. Unfortunately for him, the rat shook his head.
"No, I do not," Splinter answered.
"Oh no," Leo whispered, as he ran towards the kitchen. The rat master followed him.
There was no sign of them in the kitchen. There was no doubt in his mind that they had left without him, and he knew where they would've gone.
"Damnit!" he softly cursed, his fist slamming into the table. Leo suddenly felt a presence nearby. It was most definitely them. He ran out of the kitchen, just as his Sensei was about to follow him in. The turtle made his way towards the turnstiles, hearing the sound of feet coming towards him.
He saw his brothers covered in bruises and scratches, and in some places actually bleeding. He rushed to them, helping them come in the lair. Mikey was over Raph's shoulder and Donnie was using his Bo staff like a walking stick.
"What happened?" he asked, a little bit of anger filling his voice. "Where did you guys go?!"
"My sons," Leo heard Splinter behind him. "What has happened?"
They led the three turtles towards the center of the lair, helping them sit down on the couch and addressing their wounds. The blue masked turtle went into Donnie's lab and grabbed some bandages, starting to put them on Mikey first.
"Raphael?" Splinter asked him, his voice stern and serious. There was no point in hiding it now.
"Sensei, we…" Just then, April came running through the turnstiles.
"Guys, Mr. Murakami's gone!" (4!)
Author's Note
That's the end of Chapter 6! Yee! Let's get into some stuff!
Sorry it took me so long to write this. Claws of Fallen Stars started up and I've had an interest in that story a bit more than this one. But I'll keep going at it!
Honestly I wanted to write more into this chapter, but it would just go on forever. So it's sort of going to be in two parts? Give or take. I'll leave it up as a surprise as what is going to happen next. And I really want to put in more training sections for Leo.
Lastly, tell me what you guys think! I love reviews! They keep me going!
Until Next Time, See Ya Universe!
Palkia