I do not own the TMNT.

This chapter will be divided into two different people's points of view. I will clearly mark the areas that switch between the two so nobody gets confused.

Review please! Let me hear your voices.

The Finding

Chapter 2

The rest of the evening I played with little Klunk and felt happier than I had for a long time. By morning my heart was lost. Klunk was officially my traveling companion and had seemed to bring me luck since the farmer hooked me up with a ride to Yamaguchi with a friend who was heading in that direction. Maybe my luck was finally turning around?

Leonardo's POV:

The weather did not hold up for us. The two to three week voyage turned into a five-week voyage. I have never been so glad to reach dry land. Between Raph's seasickness and the nastiness of this vessel, I was more than ready to disembark. Luckily, we were able to exit the fishing boat without anyone seeing us. Donnie and Raph agreed to put aside their argument until after we found Mikey. They were not overly nice to one another, but at least they were civil.

I quickly "borrowed" us monk disguises that would allow us to move about freely. The traditional kimonos covered our bodies, including our feet, and the peasant hat kept our facial features in shadow. As my brother's and I had sailed towards Japan, I had felt more and more anxious to reach my little brother. I had been having a terrible sense of foreboding and I knew Katsuro was the cause. We would have to move quickly.

We knew Mikey's plane had landed in Nagano. It took us a day to get to the city and once there, Donnie was able to discover through a local computer café that Mikey had last used April's credit card in a nearby clothes shop. Unfortunately, the charge maxed out the credit limit on the card and now we couldn't use it to track Mikey anymore, but luck was on our side. Mikey had asked the store manager if he knew of a lore master named "Makota."

"Sensei was right!" I said to my brothers excitedly, "Mikey is trying to find lore masters to help him find the whereabouts of the Jinchuu if they actually do exist."

"So what do we do now?" Raphael asked.

"If we can locate Master Makota, then I bet we will locate Mikey," Donnie said, "Let's go back to the computer café."

"Let's go," I said, "The sooner we find Mikey, the sooner we can go home."

"I ain't getting' back on that boat Leo!" Raph growled as Donatello snickered behind him, "Shut up Donnie!"

"Don't start you two," I said warningly.

Donnie was able find that a Master Makota lived in a small valley just outside of Yamaguchi in the Chugoku region of Japan. The Chugoku region was south of Nagano and quite a distance away. It would take us a long time to travel to since we would have to walk.

"How the hell are we goin' ta get ta Mikey before Katsuro does if we gots ta walk?" Raph demanded.

"Leave that to me," Donnie chirped.

I was elated when Donnie was able to secure us a ride on a run-down tour bus traveling towards Yamaguchi. Our industrious brother had convinced the driver that three "monks" would bring him luck. We were finally on our way. My hopes were that we wouldn't be too late.

Michelangelo's POV:

When Klunk and I finally found Master Makota's valley, the weather had grown quite warm to the point of being down right hot. I was forced to pull my hair out of my hat and pull off some of the layers of clothing I wore. For some reason, I felt almost as if I was being led in the right direction for soon I came across what looked like a small community with a large Japanese house with a overlapping, slanted, and slightly curved roof as the center point.

"Welcome child," I heard from behind me.

Spinning around, I saw an ancient looking man wearing a traditional kimono. His face and eyes sparkled and seemed to radiate kindness. I quickly bowed in respect to the elder and offered the traditional greeting.

"Sir, are you Master Makota?" I asked.

"Yes, I am and I have been waiting for you," the ancient said, "Come walk with me in my garden."

"I don't understand," I said as I followed Master Makota, "How could you have been waiting for me if you don't know who I am or why I have come to find you?"

"I have felt you searching for me for sometime child," he said, "Now what is your name and why have you come to my valley?"

"My name is Michelangelo and I have come to see if you can help me," I said and then told Master Makota my story.

I purposefully left out any mention of my brothers and Sensei. If Master Makota contacted them, they would come here to get me.

"No they wouldn't!" the voice in the back of my head spoke up, "They are probably glad to be rid of you."

"Katsuro," Master Makota said sadly, "That is a name that I had hoped never to hear again. Sit down child and let me tell you a story."

I sat on a garden bench next to Master Makota as he explained the history of the Jinchuu to me. It seems that only certain individuals are destined to be fully trained in the Jinchuu ways. These individuals are led to the very valley we were sitting in. To my surprise Master Makota was not only a lore master but also one of the last descendants of the original heads of the Jinchuu. The community surrounding Master Makota's house was the Jinchuu clan itself. Katsuro himself had been trained and gone rouge on the clan.

"Katsuro is no longer Jinchuu. His powers come from another source now. The powers of the Earth is granted to the individuals that have compassion for others," he said, "The Jinchuu learned to harness these powers to protect the world around us. We are the protectors of those that cannot protect themselves and that is why you have been led here."

"Me?" I said confused, "I only came to see if I could stop Katsuro."

"Yes, you are correct," Master Makota said to me, "So that you can train in the ways of Jinchuu."

"What?!" I said shocked, "I have no powers."

"How do you think that kitten found you?" he said pointing to a happily napping Klunk.

"Because I had food?" I said.

"No. Because he sensed your kind heart," Master Makota said, "Hold out your hand. Good now look at the flower bud I have placed in your hand and think about how lovely the flower would be once opened."

I looked at the flower bud and saw it was a lotus blossom bud. That was Sensei's favorite flower. I loved that particular flower the most and thought about what it would look like fully opened. I felt a tingling sensation run down my arm and to my surprise, the bud grew and opened wide in my hand. Master Makota reached out and picked up the lotus out of my trembling hand.

"You Michelangelo are Jinchuu," he said to me.

I had found a new home and purpose for my life. Master Makota was so kind and took me in as if I was family. I agreed to stay and train to become Jinchuu. Since my old life was over as a teenage mutant ninja turtle, maybe it was time for a new life to begin. I could be Jinchuu and help others as Splinter would want me to do. But I decided that I could not allow anyone close to me except for Klunk ever again. My heart was broken from the rejection from my family and it couldn't handle anymore heartbreak. If I stayed alone I wouldn't hurt anymore and that was just fine by me.

To be continued.