Disclaimer – Nope, own them not. Not even a scute. Bummer. Can you just think what a TMNT scute could get me on EBay? LOL

Anyway, here's the aftermath of being too obvious…and I think that pretty much dispels the myth that Splinter is perfect, eh? Either that, or I've written him horribly out of character.

Either way, it did get an interesting reaction out of Raphael! Bwahahah

And hugs to everyone who's reading and cookies to all who reviewed! Thanks:0)

The Temper That Almost Ate Manhattan

by reinbeauchaser

Chapter 5 – This Thing Called Intelligence

Splinter groaned inwardly when he realized his son had noticed his physical reaction. The look on Raphael's face told the ninja master that he was correct in how his son would react to knowing what his father had almost done – even so long ago. The rat realized he should have known better, too, where he had trained his son – and all of them in fact – to notice such things.

Aside from the more obvious threats from their enemy, Splinter had taught the turtles to discern body language, to interpret what someone wasn't saying. A well-trained ninja could be so astute with these matters of interpretation, it almost bordered on telepathy. It was only natural, therefore, that they would use this skills, albeit subconsciously, in less dangerous environments – such as with each other.

He could only moan then, when he heard Raphael's next pained question.

Sighing, the rat closed his eyes, wondering if it was just old age or if he had subconsciously wanted to tell him.

Confession might be good for the soul, Splinter thought to himself, but some disclosures were better left unsaid.

The master seemed to be taking many deep breaths with this story and this time wasn't any different, "Yes, at first I wanted to, but…" he tried to explain, yet his son defiantly interrupted him.

"NO, I cannot believe my own father would want to eat…" Raph protested almost too loudly, ready to stand up in defiance, but Splinter quickly interjected.

With a raised paw to quiet his son, "Raphael, you must understand, I was just a simple rat, doing its best to survive. Hunger will make even the most honor-bound person do many despicable things!" He looked sternly at his son, his gaze penetrating and telling Raphael that he would not tolerate any incriminating comments from him. He had done as much to himself years before and it was enough that he had suffered tremendous guilt because of it. "I have forgiven myself, Raphael, and I expect the same from you. But remember what the outcome truly was. I rescued you; I chose to save you and your brothers. That is why you are here, sitting before me, and listening to me."

The horror on Raphael's face lessened just a little, as the truth of his father's word finally made some sense to him. Yes, Splinter's right, the turtle thought, he did end up saving us. "Okay, okay…" Raph said almost breathlessly, "I…ah…understand, but, it…just sounds so…"

"Wrong?" the rat interjected with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah." Raph might have had his breathing back under control, but he couldn't control the rapid beating of his heart. Just thinking about the horror he felt, imagining what his father could have done to him and his brothers so long ago.

It was the stuff of nightmares.

"Rats eat many things to stay a live, my son, there is very little that they won't eat, but I was not… your ordinary rat!"

"Oh, and for that, I'm grateful, Sensei!" Raph finally smiled a little, feeling a bit relieved.

"I am sure you are, but, let's not dwell on something that didn't happen," Splinter then carried on, "Eventually, I managed to find a little-used room, more like a storage cabinet, where I brought you and your brothers. The four of you imprinted on me and it was easy to lead you, although it was a slow progress at best. Eventually, the changes from our mutation allowed us to walk upright, but this did not happen until shortly after we all moved into our first home.

"Overall, our changes took a while, maybe over a series of months, and our growth seemed steady, but through it all, I had maintained a certain amount of anger. Despite my growing intelligence and leaving behind my primitive way of thinking, I still remembered how I came to be in the sewers in the first place."

The master relaxed once more when he saw his son fall back under the spell of his story again, "After a short while, I found myself preferring to walk upright more often than scurrying around on all fours. I was not as tall then, as I am now, but I was definitely taller than what I had been before the mutagen. My size even caused the rats in the tunnel to fear me – and I took full advantage of it. My anger allowed me to intimidate them. I used it primarily to find food and take it back to you and your brothers, but I have to be honest with you, Raphael. The way in which I found myself homeless and my experiences in the sewers with how the other rats treated me fueled my growing anger." The master hung his head just a little as he confessed, "I…became their personal terror. Despite the fact that they were my kin, my own species, I did as much damage to their numbers as I could."

Raphael swallowed anxiously, wondering if he really needed to hear everything his father seemed wanting to share. Yet, there was an underlying amount of morbid curiosity, too. Just knowing that his sensei once had such a terrible temper as his intrigued the turtle greatly.

"In truth," Splinter recalled, "I feared that they might find you and your brothers. In the end, my surprise attacks and unwarranted war with them caused the rats to stay away from our home." Splinter sighed, "I do regret the carnage, but I do not regret the results, either. I have never invested in the idea that the ends justify the means, but in this case, I didn't see any other way to guarantee you and your brothers' safety."

Splinter paused for a moment, as if assessing what more to say, and then continued with his account, "However, when I saw the four of you begin to use your hind legs to walk upright, as I had been doing, I knew it was time to find a safer place to live. With my growing intellect, I realized that I had to have a door. On my foraging trips topside, I often saw many doors and they appeared to keep whoever was behind them inside, as well as those – such as myself – on the outside. The cabinet we were using didn't have one, save for the threshold, and it would have only kept you inside the little room had you remained on your plastrons. The bottom lip of the door jam was high enough to do that, but now that you were able to get around as humans did, it would not be enough to keep you safe.

"In any event, after finding our second home and with a door this time, each of you began to utter sounds that were beyond squeals and grunts. They were not words as much as they were experimentations of your developing vocal chords and I, myself, discovered the same with mine. Memories of my master soon rushed back to me, his words haltingly coming to my tongue. If my memory serves me well enough, I believe my very first word was 'koishii', a word that my master often said whenever he talked to me."

"Darling?" Raphael smiled. "I – kind'a remember that word, too." He seemed rather amused, actually, despite the word's definition.

"Well, yes, I called all of you that quite frequently, since it was one of the few I used in the beginning, but it also means beloved, wanted, and a few other translations. Yet it was obvious to me later on, and as my vocabulary grew, that Yoshi loved me as a beloved member of his clan." Splinter looked pointedly at his son, admitting with an emotion-free voice, "And my loss, again, intensified my inner rage."

"Regardless, though, I was doing my best to care for you and it was becoming increasingly difficult. That is, until I discovered a restaurant located near our home. The business was only a hundred yards from where we lived, with an alleyway behind it. They threw out much food in their dumpster there that afforded me many successful trips. It was a simple matter for me to climb up through a sewer opening next to the curb, into which runoff water from the street would flow. Conveniently, it was only a half a block from the restaurant. Fortunately, I was still small enough to slip out from the opening in the curb, but it was dangerous since it put me in full view of the street. So, I made sure that my foraging happened well after midnight.

"It turned out to be more fortuitous than just providing our little family with food, though. Because, one night, it was there that I saw…him." Splinter took a breath, as if trying to calm himself and it was then that Raphael took advantage of the pause.

"Shredder?"

Nodding, the rat replied, "Yes, but he was known then as only Oruku Saki. Still, seeing him surprised me. I felt sure that Saki had returned to Japan, to gloat over his triumph with killing Yoshi and his wife, but I was obviously and sadly mistaken."

"What…did you do?" the turtle asked, knowing only too well the hatred his father had for his master's killer.

"I was torn; I wanted dearly to end the monster's life, but…" Splinter hung his head, "I knew that I wasn't yet strong enough to do it. If I were killed, then…" he looked up at Raphael, his eyes glistening, "who would take care of you and your brothers?" He shook his head, "No, as much as I wanted vengeance, I could not, and so I left him there and foraged somewhere else." He straightened up then as he continued, "And that is the way it would have been, had I not crossed paths with him a week later."

A/N – No, this isn't going to tie-in with my recent Saki one-shot. I do have to say, though, that what I had begun to write with regards to the next chapter, did indeed spawn 'Flawed'. I had started chapter 6 in third-person, but then realized that Splinter is telling this 'story' from his POV and in first person. So, anything Saki might feel or think, Splinter wouldn't know about. So, rather than delete it, I decided to make something separate and, so, 'Flawed' was born.

In either event, chapter 6 of 'Temper' will be slightly different and hopefully justify its title. :0)