Apologies for how long this chapter took.

Recently my co-worker/Beta reader has had a crap ton of connectivity issues, already making it quite hard for us to keep up with deadlines in the writing department. Of course as fate would have it, just as everything seemed to be fixed, South Africa's A+ services surges his entire area, decimating his fiber line and exploding his modem.

(ﾉꐦ ⊙曲ఠ)ﾉ彡┻━┻

I do honestly love my country, but for fuck sakes I hate it too sometimes.

(╬ Ò ‸ Ó)

Beta's note:
I'm back now! After the whole modem incident got sorted (which took a while, this is SA, after all, even private entities take a while to do their job), I caught COVID! Which then put me out of commission for even longer; my condition has improved greatly over the last few days, though I'm nowhere near making a full recovery. Stay safe out there, humans.

Anyhoo...on the nicer side, I made some cool art for the series!

If you want to know what Yuki looks like, there are some links to art on my profile.

Ninja Tales

Volume 1 - Snowfall

Chapter 8

Walking through the sewers, on his way back to his lab, Leatherhead heard a small noise a few paces away from him.

"Dare?" [1] a distinctly feminine called out.

Dammit, just what he needed, more people in the sewers.

Moving as quickly as he could, he made a break for it. Seemingly unable to shake whoever was following him, he had begun to wonder if his pursuer was even human.

As running away didn't seem to help much, he came to a halt and waited for whatever was following him. His heart sank as a rather small human female poked her head around the corner. [2]

A few seconds of awkward silence passed as the silver haired woman blinked in confusion.

He anticipated that she'd start screaming and run away in terror, but instead she calmly murmured: "Heh...ōkina wani mo iru yōdesu ne." [3]

"Wh-what?" he stammered.

"Nihongo wa hanasemasu ka?" [4]

As another moment of silence passed, she sighed, greeting him in a heavily accented "Hello."

"Hi…" he greeted back, somewhat awkwardly.

"My name is Yuki Seiji." she bowed slightly as she introduced herself.

Leatherhead sighed in relief, she was blatantly unfazed by the fact that he was a 7 foot, mutant crocodile, giving him the sense that he could relax, he then introduced himself in return, "I'm Leatherhead."

"Nice to meet you." she grinned widely.

"Uh...nice to meet you too, Miss Seiji."

"Ah...Yuki is ok." she reassured.

"Ah, sure." he nodded

There was yet another moment of silence before Leatherhead cleared his throat.

"Uhm...so, Yuki" he paused, "...why are you in the sewers?"

"Ah...English not good." she explained, laughing nervously as she scratched the back of her head.

"I...see?"

"Me…" she frowned, "...lost."

"Oh…" he nodded in understanding, "I can show you how to get back up to-"

"No!" she said very quickly, looking somewhat frantic, "Me...ano...look for..."

She paused for a bit before mumbling to herself.

"...kame? Kame wa…nandake?"

"You think you could draw it?"

"Du...raw?"

He grinned as he fished a piece of paper and pencil out of his lab coat pockets.

"Ah, souka…" [5] she murmured as she took the items from him.

She drew a somewhat crude looking tortoise and pointed at it "Me look for kame."

'A tortoise?' he frowned, before he remembered something that both Donatello and Splinter had mentioned before, 'No, wait…'kame' is the Japanese word for tortoise AND turtle. Don't tell me...'

"You're looking for the turtles?" he asked, frowning.

"Ah..turtle!" she exclaimed, "Hai! Me Turtle-san look for." [6]

He was somewhat conflicted now. She appeared harmless enough, and seemed quite at ease around him, but that didn't necessarily mean she was trustworthy, his experiences with humans had taught him that much.

"Know where Turtle-san live?" she asked, an excited grin on her face.

Noting his hesitation she clasped her hands together, "Please? Turtle-san help find? "

He sighed heavily, pulling out the shell cell that Donatello had given him...

Sitting in his lab, Donatello was working on an upgrade for their security software when his shell cell rang. Without even registering the caller ID, he answered...only for him to burst out into hysterical laughter.

"Donnie?" Mikey poked his head around the corner, wondering what his brother found so funny, soon followed by Leo and Raph.

"It's…" he heaved, desperately trying to talk through the fits of laughter, "It's Yuki…"

Tapping the speaker button, Leatherhead's confused voice could be heard "Donatello? What is going on? Who the heck is this girl?"

"Ah? Donnie-san? You're speaking to Donnie-san?" Yuki's voice popped up in the background.

"Wait, she actually knows you?" Leatherhead asked in shock.

Raph and Mikey started snickering in the background.

"Leatherhead, could please you put her on speaker?" Leo asked, struggling to suppress his own urge to laugh.

"Yeah...sure…" Leatherhead answered.

"Yuki, where are you?" Leo asked.

"In the sewers?" she answered, "I was looking for you guys, but I got lost. I found Wani-san -"

"WANI-SAN?!" Donatello's laughter was even more hysterical now.

"Uh…" Leatherhead sounded even more confused.

"Wani means crocodile or alligator." Leo explained, just barely concealing his laughter, "Wani-san would roughly translate to 'Mr. Crocodile'."

"Oh…"

There was a bit of a pause before Leatherhead cleared his throat.

"So it's safe to bring her over, then?"

"Absolutely." Leo answered.

After hanging up, he stuffed the shell cell back into his lab coat pocket.

"Ano..." she cleared her throat, "Re..za...eh..."

Noting her obvious struggle with his name he told her, "Wani-san is fine."

"Eh?" she asked, confounded, "Ii no ka?" [7]

Despite not understanding the words she had spoken, her tone had conveyed what she was saying.

"Yes I'm sure." he chuckled.

"Ok…" she grinned again, "Wani-san know Donnie-san?"

"Yes." he nodded, still a little awkward, "He's my best friend."

"Ah."

"Well, let's go and meet them." he stated as he started walking.

"Hai!" she nodded and followed.

The journey was mostly silent, as Leatherhead had opted to use gestures rather than words.

"EH?!" she stammered as they stepped into the Hamato residence, "SUGOI?!" [8]

"Pretty cool huh?" Raph asked with a grin.

"This place looks amazing!" she exclaimed, "I was worried when I heard you guys live in the sewers, but this is just...wow…"

"I'm glad you like our home." Donnie chuckled. "It's good to see you, are you well?" [9]

"Yup." she grinned, "And you guys?"

"No complaints." Donnie shrugged

"Same here."

"And how are you holding up with Mikey being…" she paused, "...well, all mendōkusai and all?" [10]

"What?" [11]

"I met April-san the other day." Yuki mused, "She recognised me because Mikey-kun apparently doesn't stop talking about me?"

"You have no idea." Raph groaned, "I mean, I think you're cool and all, but I wish he would just shut up for one minute."

She shook her head and sighed.

"YUKI!"

Before she could properly react, a green-and-orange blur barreled into her. It took her a few seconds to realise that it was, in fact, the youngest turtle who had decided to greet her with a bearhug.

"Ano...hello...Mikey-kun." she stammered, reeling from the obvious culture shock.

"Dammit Mikey!" Raph glowered, "Are you trying to scare her away!?"

"But hugs are good for you!" he pouted, "Like that Virginia lady said."

"He does have a point." Donnie shrugged, "Virginia Satir, a pioneer in family therapy, did manage to find some evidence that hugs play a vital role in emotional stability and growth." [12]

"Oh?" Yuki mused, Mikey still clinging onto her, "In that case, I suppose I'm just gonna have to get used to getting hugged more often."

"Oi, Bonehead, you can let go of her now." Raph sighed.

Mikey let go, albeit with a pout, and Yuki had to suppress the urge to laugh at him behaving like a literal child.

"Oh, I almost forgot." she stated as she handed the messenger bag she had with her to him.

"What is it?" Leo asked as he noted a neatly wrapped parcel inside.

"It's a gift." she grinned, "I never properly thanked you guys for helping me when I arrived."

"You really didn't have to go and-"

"For real!" she countered, "I'd have been sooo screwed without you guys!"

"In that case, thank you." he nodded.

He opened the gift, revealing an assortment of small objects that looked like a collection of figurines.

"Oooh...pretty." Mikey crooned as he peered into the box, "But what exactly is it?"

"Wagashi." Leo explained, "Traditional Japanese sweets." [13]

"Wagashi?" Donnie gave her an incredulous look, "Where in the world did you even find wagashi?"

"I made them."

"Homemade wagashi?" Splinter asked as he joined the group, "Now that's something I haven't had in a long time."

"Good day, Splinter-sensei." she greeted.

"It's good to see you, Yuki-chan." he responded, "What brings you to our humble home today?"

"I came to say 'hi'." she grinned, "And I need some help with something."

"And what might that be?" Splinter enquired.

"I need advice." she explained, "April-san said that you are the best person to talk to."

"Oh?"

"It's uh…" she paused, "...well…"

Noting her struggle to speak about whatever she had on her mind, he gestured in the direction of the kitchen, "Come. We can discuss it while we make tea."

She nodded, following him to the kitchen.

"So what's the story with her?" Leatherhead asked, seating himself on a nearby chair.

"Remember that odd signal we started catching a while ago?" Donnie asked.

"She's the person that got transported that night?" Leatherhead guessed.

"Yup, in the flesh."

"She seems pretty human for someone not from this world." he noted.

"I'm starting to think that she is human, but from an alternate reality."

"What makes you think that?" Leatherhead asked.

"Her culture is essentially Japanese, but she didn't recognise any of our maps of Earth, not even Japan."

"Huh." he murmured, "She's pretty fast for a human though."

"In her world, it would appear that Ninja are common to the point of forming the military."

"Then I assume that she's also a ninja?" Leatherhead concluded, "That would explain how she kept up with me, at least…"

"Yup!" Mikey beamed, "You should see the cool jutsu she knows!"

"Mikey…" Raph sighed.

"What?" Mikey pouted, "Her summoning jutsu is awesome."

"Her summoning jutsu is cool and all, but you don't have to remind us of the fact every 10 fucking minutes!" Raph fumed.

"Language, Raph." Leo gave him stinkeye.

"Oh, fuck off, Fearless." he huffed.

"Summoning jutsu?" Leatherhead asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, she can summon cats!" Mikey practically beamed, "It's why she's not scared of us...because she's used to talking animals like us!"

"Oh." Leatherhead murmured, "That does seem pretty neat."

"Right?!" Mikey crooned.

"You seem unsure about something, though, Leo." Leatherhead observed.

"It's about what she said when we met her." Leo frowned, "Something along the lines of 'marked for life'."

"What do you suppose she could have meant?"

"It would appear that before she was transported by the artefact, she was escaping from a rogue ninja known as Orochimaru."

"Escaping?" Leatherhead frowned, "You suspect this ninja did something to her?"

"Let's just say we're getting major Agent Bishop vibes from what she's described about him so far." Raph grumbled.

"Are you guys talking about me?"

Looking up, they found that Yuki had returned, holding a tray of teacups. Splinter followed soon after with a steaming pot of tea.

"You could tell?" Donnie asked.

"I heard Orochimaru being mentioned." she explained as she set the tray down.

"Ah...right..." he mused.

"We're worried about what you said on the night you first appeared…" Leo explained, "About being 'marked for life', as you put it."

"Oh…" she murmured as she started pouring tea.

"Orochimaru...he did something horrible to you, didn't he?" Raph frowned, his voice laced with subtly growing rage.

She was stunned, but touched at their concern.

"It seems not much gets past you guys." She pulled the collar of her shirt down to reveal the mark under her collarbone, "It's called the Chi no Juin."

Noting the looks of confusion on Mikey and Leatherheads faces, Donnie explained, "Chi no Juin...that would translate as the Cursed seal of Earth."

"Ah…" Mikey nodded, "But what is it?"

"What is it exactly?" Donnie asked

"A seal that forcibly draws my chakra and replaces it with Orochimaru's senjutsu chakra." [14]

"Senjutsu chakra?" Donnie asked, curiosity evident in his tone.

"Senjustu utilises natural energy in addition to the mix of physical and spiritual energies that chakra is made up of…" she trailed off, sighing as she noted the confused and vacant stares she was getting, "Basically, it makes me much stronger, but at the cost of my sanity."

"Why would he do that?" Leo asked.

"I honestly don't know." she sighed, "He's a self centred ass who's obsessed with immortality and learning every jutsu in existence. I gave up trying to understand his reasoning a long time ago."

"Oh I get you." Raph grumbled, "We know a guy like that too."

"Let's hope I never meet this person." she remarked, "One was enough."

"Agreed." Raph nodded.

NOTES:

[1]
Dare (誰) literally means "who", but is often interpreted as "Who's there?"
Back

[2]
Just for reference: Yuki's height is 1,58 m (5'2''), while Leatherhead stands at 2,13 m (7 feet)

[3]
Heh...ōkina wani mo iru yōdesu ne (へぇ…大きなワニもいるようですね) means "Ah...so would seem that there are giant crocodiles here as well."

[4]
Nihongo wa hanasemasu ka? (日本語は話せますか？) means "Do [you] speak Japanese?"

[5]
Ah, souka (ああ、そうか) means "Oh, I see"

[6]
Throughout writing this chapter, I had to constantly remind myself that Yuki's broken English would follow Japanese grammar rules and hence be Subject-Object-Verb in most cases.

[7]
Ii no ka? (いいのか？) means "You sure that's ok?"

[8]
Sugoi (すごい) is a word that's typically used to express feeling awestruck or being overwhelmed, be it good or bad.
A similar English expression would go somewhere along the lines of "Oh…wow"

[9]
I found that using 'how are you?' doesn't really seem to work well when things are supposed to be in Japanese. Especially when Aidan was getting confused by this exact phrase while learning the language.

The Japanese equivalent of "How are you?" is Genki desu ka? (元気ですか)

However genki (元気) literally means "healthy", "in good spirits" or "enthusiastic", and therefore Genki desu ka? (元気ですか) would be literally translated "Are [you] healthy/doing well?" rather than the English "How are you doing?"

[10]
Mendōkusai (面倒臭い) is a Japanese phrase that means 'troublesome' or 'bothersome'.
This is also what Shikamaru's original Japanese catchphrase is, as opposed to the dub's "What a drag..."

[11]
I originally put a 'Huh?' here. Then the YouTuber SHUNchan (with his video "Things You Should NOT Do in Japan") made me realise that for most Japanese, 'Huh?' is actually pretty rude and offensive; somewhere between passive-aggressive and implying that you're trying to pick a fight xD

[12]
Virginia Satir, widely known as "Mother of Family Therapy", was especially known for her approach to family therapy and her pioneering work in the field of family reconstruction therapy.
One of her famous quotes goes as follows: "We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth."

[13]
Wagashi (和菓子) is usually enjoyed with green tea, and thus a staple at tea ceremonies.

Matcha/green tea is usually drunk unsweetened, but with the sweets, as they balance out the bitter.

Wagashi is also a very common choice for souvenirs in Japan.

[14]
Senjutsu Chakra (仙術チャクラ) means 'Sage chakra'

Oh wow...didn't realise how many notes were in here till now...

Whoops