Splinter's Tale

Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians.

Author's Note: Raphaella : The reason you probably never heard or know little of Nagi is because he is only in the number one issue of the comic at the part where Splinter is telling the turtles about their origin and what came before. In all other cartoons and movies it was only Oroku Saki.

Lenni: The movie for some reason added the bit about Splinter leaping to Saki's face biting and clawing. In issue one Shredder is wearing full armour including the facemask meaning it would be rather difficult for Splinter to bite and claw.

Part Four- Growing up Ninja.

The turtles continued to follow my every move for the next year making it far easier on me to lay a solid foundation of ninjitsu but during that year I also noted that each of them began to develop a personality all their own making it far easier to differentiate them from one another.

Leonardo seemed the most attentive to the lessons I gave often I would catch him practicing the moves all on his own. Something his brothers just wouldn't do. He was determined to learn it and get it right but in the early years he was easily frustrated when he couldn't get it right.

Donatello often seemed distracted his mind and thoughts elsewhere. He was a quiet obedient child and took to reading voraciously of anything in our home. He was also the one who most often asked me why?

Not that the others did not ask me why but Donatello asked it far more then his brothers did. His appetite for knowledge seemed to know no end.

Michelangelo was easy going and tended to be a little lazy preferring to sleep in over coming to morning lessons. He was also the class clown doing his best to entertain while I was trying to instruct. He tried hard to illicit a laugh from any one of his brothers and too often he did get his reward, which only spurred him on. Of course he also tended to get the business end of my walking stick many times but he never held it against me and it never slowed him down either.

Raphael was the most irritable and surly one of the four turtles. If a fight broke out Raphael usually had something to do with it in some fashion. Either he was in the thick of the battle or he had instigated it in some fashion.

The boy insisted on testing me.

Michelangelo and Raphael spent a great deal of time with one another getting into trouble through the use of instigation and 'I dare you' and ' Well I double dare you.' What one didn't think of the other was almost certain to.

I looked at these four as my sons. I knew they looked to me to teach them and comfort them. They had helped to fill the gaping void that was left inside of me when Yoshi died. I tended to still think of my Master often and it often vexed me that I could not have done more to help my Master when he truly needed it the most.

Honour had been lost and I saw little or no hope of regaining it. Unless perhaps my sons might one day be capable of such a mission but I had no idea how much they could learn of ninjitsu. For they like all children had a limited grasp on what they understood.

Only time and patience would show me if they could do such a thing until then any thing they could learn would be of use to them.

I often had to leave them at home when I searched for food and other necessities topside knowing how much trouble that at least two of them got into it was always a little nerve wracking for me to leave but they knew enough to play quietly within the boundaries of our home.

Food was a constant necessity I had not realized how much the four turtles could eat and trying to feed them was not easy. It pained me a great deal to hear their stomachs growl with hunger or their cries for food that could not be found. I would often find myself sacrificing my portion of the meal to them so they would have a little more while I went hungry.

It was the same when they got sick or suffered injuries I had very little to ease their pains or aches and could only offer them comfort.

When worse came to worse I would resort to stealing what I needed for my family but I tried to avoid that route and make do with what could be had without giving in to crime.

I returned home one day with a good deal of food I had found in a dumpster behind a grocery store it had been a good haul of produce and breads, buns and baked goods and milk that was past it's prime. Most of it would have to be gone through bad parts cut out but for a while we had food.

I was met at the door by an anxious Leonardo " Master Mikey and Raph left" the boy admitted shifting nervously from one foot to the other.

" Left where?" I wondered

Leonardo shrugged looking like he was about to cry, " I didn't do it. They didn't listen. I tell them not to but they go." He insisted in a rush.

" You are not in trouble Leonardo but you must tell me where they went."

Leonardo winced a bit " Out sewer during hide seek. They not here" he muttered.

" It is all right Leonardo. I will find them take these into the kitchen for me will you and help yourself to some fruit" I suggested quickly before darting out to find the other two.

I should have known that sooner or later one of them would go sneaking off into forbidden territory. I was both worried and concerned for their safety.

I strained every sense hoping to find them before they got hurt or killed in one of the many hazards that were part of life in the sewers. My heart beat hard and fast under my ribcage but over the rapid thumping of my heart I thought I detected a distant clanging on the sewer pipes and followed the sound to the source.

I was both delighted and relieved to find the two missing four year olds banging the pipes with a bit of debris they found.

" Yeeah! See I tole ya Splinter find us" Michelangelo cheered when he spotted me, " We were lost," the boy admitted.

" Were not" Raphael interjected quickly sniffing a bit " were eploring."

" Were too lost Raph."

" Uh-uh" Raphael was not about to admit to it he shook his head.

As relieved as I was to find them unhurt I rapped both of them with my walking stick " That is enough from both of you. You know you are not to leave our home. Why did you disobey?" I demanded.

" It was his idea," both turtles said at once pointing to one another as they spoke.

 " Was not," Raphael protested pushing his brothers " It was yours."

" It was yours Raph you know it" Michelangelo declared shoving his brother back.

I picked them both up and dropped them onto their butts in the cold sewer water " That is enough from both of you. I expect you to do as you are told. Both of you will go home and go to bed immediately" I decided hoping that would put a stop to their petty bickering.

I was wrong as they began arguing whose fault it was they were now being punished.

Leonardo was still very upset when I returned home and I had to reassure him that he had done well to obey me and not to go after his brothers as he too might have become lost.

It was I think the first time he showed the responsibility and concern for his brothers that would become so much a part of who Leonardo was to be.

Though Leonardo in those days was not above getting into trouble or trying to pawn it off on someone else if he thought he could get away with it. He would play keep away or tease or bicker with his brothers.

I was amazed at how easily they could fall into some light hearted bickering that could turn into an all out battle between them.

It seemed who got the biggest or best treat, who I liked the most were reason enough to get into a fistfight over.

In those early years they ended up sleeping through most of the winter months, the first time they had done this I had been deeply concerned and worried until I learned that it was normal for turtles and other reptiles to hibernate. At least their hibernation meant I had peace and quiet for a few months out of every year.

I also didn't have to worry about having so much food on hand for the family. The quiet time allowed me a chance to figure out what I would teach them next when they woke and were ready to learn again about ninjitsu and the world above.

By the time they were seven years old I was starting to take them topside one by one to teach them skills in moving around in the shadows and not be noticed while we scavenged what we could.

Donatello was assisting me one evening and searching a dumpster " You know Sensei I think I know of a way to keep our home warmer in winter." He suddenly emerged with a white rectangle box with a cord on it. " I think I might be able to fix this" he grinned.

" What is it?" I wondered scratching my head.

" It's a microwave Master. It warms and heats up food real fast," Donatello explained.

I sighed. Always when we went out together Donatello would go out of his way to bring home any electronic or electrical gadget he found. So far this year alone he had added several radios, several lamps, a television and something he called a VCR into our home and fixed them up for our use.

I wasn't quite sure how he did it but he did seem to read a great deal of books on the subject and I couldn't deny that these additions to our home were a useful source of entertainment for my sons while I was away.

I knew very little about such things and I often feared his working on some gadget would cause us to perhaps lose our home through a fire or some other mishap associated with these instruments.

Still Donatello seemed quite happy being able to take a part something and recall exactly how to put it all together again but in working order. Since he was both helping the family out and learning an important and useful skill I could never find it in my heart to turn him down and refuse him to have the items he found.

So I found myself once again nodding my head permitting the new ' microwave' to be brought home.

It was only a year later at the age of eight that Donatello started rigging up his own alarm systems to warn us of intruders. It was also Donatello who provided us with running hot and cold clean water by tapping into the city pipes. He was the one who gave us the stove and fridge that we used and numerous other comforts of home.

Donatello was also the student who excelled at mixing the various ninja potions, powders, poisons and explosives taking what little I taught him and bettering it.

By now the others were starting to look up more and more to Leonardo following his lead as much as they did mine. I noticed that he seemed suited to the role of looking out for the others and decided to start training him to bring out and enhance these natural qualities that would become an asset to the group as a whole.

The turtles were growing in knowledge and skills with each passing year they learned more and did more, achieved more and by the time they were nine years old I began to see that they were all skilled fighters, they could hold their own against normal people and survive.

It was then that I began to fully realize that Yoshi's death might possibly be avenged yet and I now began to push my students harder trying to get them to sharpen their skills. The fact that their training had suddenly intensified was not lost on all of my pupils, as I was soon to find out when I overheard Raphael and Leonardo one day.

" Leo any idea of why Splinter is really teaching us all of this stuff? I mean come on he must have let you in on the big secret being as you are so perfect and his favourite son and all."

" I'm NOT Raph. Besides you know why he is doing it. It is because we are different from the world above. We can't fit in with humans and we might need to protect ourselves from those who might seek to hurt us."

" You really believe that line Leo? What a lot of pompous B.S if you ask me." Raphael snorted.

" Why? You don't think Splinter would have lied to us about it do you Raph?" Leonardo countered.

" I'm not saying he lied Leo. I'm just saying I don't think he has told us the whole truth of the matter. Let's face it Leo I bet we could handle just about any criminal on the street as well as the police themselves.

I tell you he is hiding something all this training isn't just to keep us safe. There is more to it then that I can feel it."

I sighed trust Raphael, of all of my sons, to pick up on that. In the eleven years of hiding down in the sewers Raphael seemed the most perceptive of the four picking up on hidden feelings with ease.

Raphael resented his confinement down here while his brothers had come to accept it he resented it. His quick anger and resentment was causing a great deal of bitterness inside of him causing him to lash out in anger more often or even worse take off for hours on end without letting me know where he was.

I feared and worried for Raphael whenever he took off to blow off steam.

Leonardo was also concerned about his brother's frequent absences only he tended to take his responsibility a little too far and lecture Raphael about how irresponsible Raphael was acting. This ended up causing many battles between them.

I did not know what to do to help my troubled son, I loved him as I loved the others but I could not manage to reach him.

Raphael now knew that the thought, which had been mere randomness when I had first taken on the task of training them might actually come to be a reality.

I was almost obsessed with the idea of restoring honour to Yoshi so that he might rest in peace.

I could not say that over the last eleven years that it had been my one and only sole purpose and goal for training my sons but I could not deny that I wanted revenge for my sake.

I wanted to know that Oroku Saki would not continue to live after cowardly killing my Master Yoshi and Shen in the way that he had. Nagi himself had no honour to begin with if one realized that he would have killed Shen in his jealous rage and most likely left the blame on my Master door.

I could not deny that I loved my sons I had protected and cared for them, given up sleep, food, I had worried and fretted over them. I felt immense pride in them as well at all they had achieved in such a short time.

Yes, I have to admit I wanted revenge but from the start I hadn't been sure how I would ever get that revenge against Saki. Possibly a part of me had considered this thought long before it came into my mind as a possibility of gaining that goal. It was quite possible I had trained my sons from the very start for this one assignment alone but knowing how I loved them, I didn't know if it was true or not.

TBC

Author's Note: In comic one Splinter does tell the turtles that he has been training them for this mission for all their lives. So it is highly possible that his training was for the purpose of the turtles to restore honour.

However the same comic says Splinter didn't know quite why he plucked the turtles from the ooze in the first place.

The comic doesn't go into the growing years at all. But I have a feeling over the years Splinter like any parent would have become very attached to his charges. Plus the fact, that I doubt in the start of their training Splinter seeing them as fully trained ninja. He wouldn't know how far the turtles could go in training. Sending them untrained against Saki would be suicide. They HAD to be fully trained ninja if they were to survive.

So there is doubt in my mind about Splinter's true intentions at that time. However because of the comic stating that I wanted to throw it in.