Chapter 9: Teenaged Daughters ( Martina McBride)

" Again" the sound of a walking stick rapping against stone echoed out of the Dojo followed by a loud feminine " Kiai" as Splinter was once again dedicated in the training of his newest student. With Kira finally being pronounced as being back to full health, mentally as well as physically, she had dedicated most of her time to training as much as possible to keep her new found balance in life. While the four Turtles trained together she would be off to the side working on her own Skateboard balancing board, sometimes while practicing with a nunchaku, or working on her katas. She even had a modified weight training routine that was thought up by Raphael after having watched an MMA fighter** online with a fighter whom also had a stump arm much like his girlfriends.

Watching closely as Kira went threw another set of kicks, Splinter could since there was something off with her today but seeing as she went threw the entire session without fail he kept it to himself, knowing his youngest son's amazing ability of insight he was confident that it hasn't gone unnoticed. " Well done my Student, you may spend the rest of the day as you whish Kira" the old Rat spoke up as she stood and bowed respectively before him.

" Yes, Sensei" Kira replied already eyeing her balancing board that was off to the far end of the Dojo.

Having caught her looking towards her favorite balancing board he sighed heavily, for too long has she remained bellow in the lair concentrating only on her training and rehabilitation. " Your dedication to your rehabilitation and learning the ancient art of Ninjutsu is admirable Kira, but I feel that your forgetting to about who you are…" Splinter reached out and tilted her head up so he was better able to look into her now dull grey eyes " … In the months you have been living with us bellow you have only left our home the one time. This is not healthy for anyone, let alone a young human such as yourself! You have left me with no choice but to send you topside for the remainder of the day!"

" Your throwing me out?" Kira shouted pulling herself back away from the very one whom had saved her life, letting her into their home and family " You took me in to keep me safe and now that I'm healthy Your KICKING ME OUT… What the fuck did I do wrong…. Huh? NOTHING! I'VE DONE NOTHING WRONG, I'VE DONE EVERYTHING THING EXPECTED OF ME…" she screamed out as her heart had quickly filled with anger and betrayal. Not giving her Sensei time to respond she scrambled to her feet and ran out of the Dojo as fast as her feet could take her.

The very moment the Turtles heard her yell, everything in the lair stopped. It wasn't unknown to them that their father intended on speaking with her about returning to the surface, if only just for a few hours, but never did they think his good intentions would be so extremely misunderstood. Giving a silent command to his brothers to stay put, Leonardo went into the Dojo to check on their father and find out what exactly had gone on. Cracking his knuckles as a silent rage began to build within him, Raphael ignored the command and stormed off to the lift heading up to the abandon garage without a word. This left both younger brothers alone and confused as to what was going happen to their Sister, her temper mirrored their hot-headed brothers almost perfectly except she wasn't limited in hiding places as he was. Giving his tech-minded brother a knowing wink, Michelangelo hopped up onto the second level to check on Kira.

Up in her room, angry tears flowed freely from Kira's eyes as she ripped off her sweaty workout clothes and redressed in clean street clothes, jeans and a red tank top under a NY Mets hoodie. She was in middle of fighting with her left sock when there was a soft knock at her door seconds before the youngest Turtle slipped into her room without permission. " Go away Mike! I don't need this getting any more difficult on me as it is…" she spoke up cursing under her breath as her voice cracked as she spoke.

His heart sunk the very moment he realized that she was really crying over this, not listening to her command Michelangelo swiftly moved over to sit next to her on the bed. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders he pulled Kira into his shoulder as she started to cry harder " Shhh, it's gonna be alright Sis… Sensei wasn't kicking you outta here outta here! He's just worried about ya… " he whispered softly trying to ease her mind and get her to stop crying " Raphie, Don and Me wouldn't let that happen!"

" Then why are you here an not him!" Kira demanded wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

" Simple, he's trying to keep from blowing his top. Leo told us earlier that Master Splinter was going to try and talk you into heading topside and Raphie warned him it would blow up on em. Turns out he was right after all" he explained sounding completely shocked by that revelation causing her to giggle softly. Tilting her head up he pulled a tissue from his belt and offered it to her " Here, That's my girl" he smiled happily as she wiped and blew her nose.

" What do I do Mikey? Most of the ones I hung out with before I can't… I'll fuck up on my own up there and drop back into old habits …" She asked pleadingly terrified she'll end up in jail or dead if Hun got his hands on her.

" Don't sweat it Sis! " he chimed confidently " We'll grab a couple of my boards and head up to this spot I know of. It'll be more fun than that Balancing Board in the Dojo…" he replied baiting her.

" We?" she responded sternly before his big cheesy grin became her downfall " Alright, I'm game! Skateboarding in the middle of February it is…" Kira laughed hugging his neck tightly with her good arm.

" Sweet, I'll go get ready and we'll sneak out into the sewers to a shortcut I know of" he replied in a mischievous tone that meant trouble before jumping up to help her with her socks and sneakers before slipping out of her room before she could even blink.

Shaking her head Kira smiled happily as she went about gathering everything she would need for skateboarding " It never fails, if I'm not in trouble now I will be later" she muttered to herself. Slipping the hood up over her head put on her leather jacket Kira grabbed her glove and backpack before she opened her bedroom door quietly and slipped out onto the landing.

It didn't take Michelangelo long to throw on his winter street clothes and pick out the best board he thought would fit Kira before he also slipped out of his room. Slipping her board onto the front of her backpack he led her silently out of the lair and into the tunnels without anyone noticing. This was the first time the pair was slipping out without permission so to make sure she stayed close he held onto her right hand as they headed uptown. None of his brothers knew about the spot he was taking her to nor of the people she was about to meet.

After pacing around in the abandoned garage above the lair for nearly an hour, Raphael finally headed back down to check on Kira. He still wasn't in the mood to deal with his family but he needed to make sure she knew he wasn't upset with her and maybe see if she'd like to go for a ride. But the moment the elevator door opened into the Lair something didn't feel right, ' its too quite, what's Mikey up to now?' his thoughts inquired as he looked around suspiciously. The kitchen, tv and entertainment systems all empty and quiet. Hoping up onto the second level he first looked into his little brothers room only to find it empty and his favorite boards were missing, raising an eye ridge suspiciously he then walked over to Kira's room and also found it empty " Where in the Shell did those two sneak off to now?" he muttered under his breath, there was only one way to find out.

Hoping down to the main floor he made his way to his second youngest brothers room and found him typing away on his computer. Silently moving up behind him Raphael leaned over from behind him waiting for him to notice.

"Graa, Damnit Raphael…" Donatello gasped couching his chest after nearly jumping out of his shell as he was not expecting to see his hot-headed brother standing there rolling in silent laughter " As you can see I'm busy so what do you want?" he stated flatly not finding this at all amusing.

Pulling himself together Raphael leaned in closer as to speak into his ear " Tweedledee and Tweedledumb-ass have flown the coop and it wasn't by the main elevator topside cause I was up there!" he informed him in all seriousness.

Donatello covered his face with his hand and shook his head " I knew things had gotten to quite out there" he sighed exasperated. Sitting up he brought up his surveillance cameras and set to work locating which tunnel the pair had headed of down. It didn't take but a minute before the GPS in their shell-cells gave their location away " Found 'em. There up town at an abandoned factory I'll send the location to your Shell-cell. I'll cover you three this time but you'll owe me Raph!" he stated firmly giving his brother a pointed glare.

" Extortionist!" Raphael snorted as he patted his shoulder with a silent ' thank you'.

" Freeloader!" Donatello quipped back as he had already gone back to what he had been working on.

Making a quick stop up at his bedroom to grab a have with some street clothes, Raphael was back up to the garage. Slipping into a pair of black coveralls, boots and gloves he slipped on his red helmet and drove off on the Shell-cycle to locate and keep an eye on his girlfriend and little brother.

Meanwhile up town both Kira and Michelangelo had arrived at an abandoned factory only to her surprise it was now an indoor skate park with kids, teens and even some adults having fun. There was music playing over the loud speakers, a full sized snack bar and a mini pro shop inside. What amazed her the most was how welcomed the six foot tall turtle was among the skaters, especially with a purple haired teenaged girl that looked to be around sixteen who road her board right up to him and nearly threw herself into his arms. When he had to let go of her hand Kira watched with a fixed unimpressed look as he spun the girl around and kiss her cheek. Her name was Angel and apparently had been a long time ' friend' of the turtles.

" Kira this is Angel, Angel this is Kira…Raphie's Girl " Michelangelo grinned excitedly introducing them.

Angel held out her hand to the older girl " It's nice to meet ya, Mikey's told me a lot about ya. I'm glad to see your out and about now, oh don't worry, this place is gangs free… We don't let the Purple Dragons in our hood!" she said reassuringly.

Shaking her hand Kira gave her a friendly smile " Good to hear, I doubt Hun would step foot in here anyway"

Angel laughed and fist bumped her " Hell yeah Girl! Mikey told us all about that 'nutcracker' move" taking her by her right hand she led Kira over to an open Locker room set up " We store our stuff in here, pads and Helmets are a must, Safety first ya know."

Kira nodded and went to slipped her pack off when Michelangelo reached out and took it from her to get her board free before passing it back " pbbfff, Only for those who weren't born with a shell!" he scoffed braggingly as he rolled around of her board and pulled off a few kick flips while she got ready.

Angel watched the older dirty blond haired girl, her hair was kind of wavy and went below her shoulders and the hoodie she had on looked like it was a couple sizes to big with the left sleeve twisted and folded back on her stump arm. There was a vibe about Kira that struck the younger girl as trouble but as she was with the Turtles they must have picked it up by now, but either way this girl was one Angel planed on keeping a close eye on. Once she was ready to go Angel led her to the easy area as she did not know what her skill level " I don't know how good you are right now so why not start off easy" she recommended not catching the Turtles eye rolling behind her.

Giving the ' kid' a courteous nod of thanks, Kira set the board down and started off easy as she pushed off and went done into the smaller of the Bowls available. At first she wasn't sure if she still had it after so many months but it didn't take long before she picked up some speed and started pulling off a few basics tricks. For the fist time in months she felt like herself and it showed as life sparked within her gray eyes.

" How was that?" Kira asked when she came to a stop up by the two, Michelangelo already had been whistling and cheering her on was fist to fist high five her ecstatically while Angel stood there with her arms crossed over her chest appearing to be unimpressed.

" Ehh, you did alright!" Angel replied before kicking off down towards a more complicated section of the Bowl to show Kira how things were done.

Seeing that the purple haired girl wasn't going to be warming up to her any time soon, Kira wasn't in the mood to play ' who's better' with her. Instead she watched as her BTFF ( Best turtle friend forever) take on the Half and Quarter Pipe combo and pull off some sick tricks. It wasn't long before he knelt down on the table and offer her his hand " Come on up Sis, I'm not letting you sideline on this bad boy" laughing she took hold of his hand and he pulled her up top to join them " Just drop in easy and keep your balance!" he instructed guiding her to the edge as nearly everyone up on rather side were shouting words of encouragement.

" I can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this Mikey, ohhh shittt" Kira spoke out as she dropped in and made two decent passed before wiping out when her board flew out from under her.

" Kira" Michelangelo called out as he watched in horror as she took a 6 foot fall from mid air and land hard on her right hip. He was about to jump down and help her but she stood right up and dusted herself off with a smile " Man I haven't wiped out like that in a while, ahhh, yep, that's gonna bruise" Kira remarked laughing it off as she rotated her leg a bit as she walked off to get her board.

Watching silently from the roofs skylight, Raphael's heart nearly stopped as he watched her wipeout but a wavy of relief washed over him as she got back up. His relief was short lived when he seen how she was limping, he could tell she was trying to save face and walk as normally as possible " That's my girl!" He whispered under his breath as a half smile grew on his concerned face as she went around to climb back up to the table in order to wait for her next turn. Stepping away from the skylight he walked over to the side and looked around to make sure things were clear bellow before making his way down the fire escape to street level before slipping inside the factory unnoticed so he could watch her a bit more closely.

Meanwhile a few blocks to the south, The two remaining turtles had just finished eating and were about to head over to their brothers location when Leonardo thought he had seen a an old familiar face walking down the street. From how they were walking along the side walk, almost parallel to the Battle Shell, his gut told him they wanted to be noticed by them. Closing his eyes for a second he carefully thought about his next set of actions before turning to speak to his brother behind the wheel.

" Hey Don, stop here. There's something I have to look into here, just keep going to catch up with the other three. I'll be alright on my own!"

Pulling over Donatello looked skeptically at his older brother " You seen ' her' again didn't you?" he inquired having long suspected that Leonardo had been meeting up with a former enemy to gain in tell on the Purple Dragons.

Exhaling, he refused to acknowledge the question and simply restated his orders " Just go keep an eye on Mikey, Raph and Kira! I'll catch up with you later!"

Before he could get another word in, Donatello watched his older brother jump out of the passenger seat and jog off into a dark nearby alleyway " Just be careful Leo, we don't need you getting hurt!" he whispered more to himself than anything. Putting the vehicle in gear he reluctantly pulled out and drove off to find the other three.

Jogging down a block before heading to the rooftops, Leonardo stopped on a certain building and concealed himself in the darkness as he waited. Even though he was going against his own orders to never go anywhere topside alone, there were just something's he needed to risk as Leader and head of the Hamato Clan in order to insure the safety of his family.

" I have to say, I wasn't expecting to be seeing you this far north of the Island… Karai!" he spoke up when his heightened senses told him he wasn't alone.

" I can say the same for you as well, Leonardo..." a soft Japanese accented voice spoke up as they both stepped out into the light to reveal themselves " … I can assure you that our treaty is still in place" she stated to reassure him she wasn't there for a confrontation.

" I can say the same for us as well!" he replied with a neutral look on his face " So, what do I owe this honor too?" He watched as she slowly pulled out a crumpled picture of a small troubled looking girl, with grey eyes and dirty blond hair, and held it out for him to take.

" I'm sure you will recognize her well as she has attached herself to your Brother!" she replied bluntly in an defeated and unthreatening voice.

Taking a minute to control his anger Leonardo choose his next words carefully " What is she to you Karai?" the protective gleam in his eyes didn't go unnoticed by the older woman.

" She is my Daughter, Leonardo…" Karai spoke up looking him in the eyes to let him see she was speaking the truth. " I figured you would find this hard to believe so I'm prepared to offer you the proof I know you would be wanting" she went on to say as she then pulled out an unused syringe. Leonardo was stunned at this unexpected confession and watched as she cleaned and inserted the needle into her own arm to withdraw her own blood before then closing the safety cap and placing it into a bag. Holding the DNA up in front of her she slowly extended it out to him " I would be wanting undeniable proof if I were in your place" she noted as he took it from her.

"For the sake of the conversation, let's say that I believe you! Why are you only coming to me now about her and not months ago?" He inquired struggling to wrap his own mind around this turn of events. " Why now Karai?"

Sighing heavily she placed her left hand onto her lower belly " Because Hun doesn't know of who she is! If he hasn't found out by know he will soon and I can't lose her again!" she replied almost pleading for her safety as she spoke. " My contact within has just informed me that the Purple Dragons were responsible for a failed attempt on her life in the spring. Until their last in counter with your Clan he had believed she was dead!"

The fear and pain in her voice eyes was nearly heartbreaking but he had to remind himself that Karai was a highly skilled Kunoichi and this very well could be a trick. Looking down at the needle containing her own DNA he was willing to give her the benefit of a doubt " I will let this tell me if what you say is true Karai" he spoke with reservation " I need to know, Did you abandon her as an infant and only now are you feeling remorse?" he inquired skeptically clenching his fist as he readied himself for her answer.

Lowering her head she nodded " I had gotten pregnant at a young age and was forced to give her up in fear of my Father discovering my dishonor and ordering hers and possibly my own lives ended in order to restore the families honor! The family of her father took her into their care and I had to live with the pain of her loss every day since." Looking to meet his cautious gaze she restated her previous statement "I can't lose her again Leonardo! I'm not looking to be reunited with her, I'm simply trying to keep her safe..."

Taking in a deep breath, Leonardo nodded " I can assure you that we are doing just that, and" he held up the needle to emphasize his point " I will leave it up to her if she whishes to meet you or not! I will not deny her the truth of her past Karai" he stated not telling her that Kira knew of someone who lived in the very same part of Manhattan the Karai resided in.

' LEO…'

Nodding her head in silent understanding she was about to speak when his brothers voices could be heard. Waiting until he had looked away Karai vanished into the shadows.

" Leo are you alright? You've been gone for three hours?" Donatello spoke up as he, their two other brothers and Kira all climbed onto the roof from the fire escape to join him.

' Three hours, have I really been gone that long?' Leonardo's thoughts pondered having not realized just how long they had been talking… or well thinking. Tucking the needle safely into his hoodie he put on a reassuring smile " Yeah, I'm fine guys, I got lost in my own thoughts and lost track of time. Sorry to make you worry" he explained apologetically to his family.

" Just proves ya think to damn much Fearless!" Raphael scoffed in agitated annoyance as he rested his arm over Kira's shoulders protectively.

Snorting a soft laugh in agreement he nodded "Yeah, I'm starting to agree with you on that Raph! Just don't let it swell that thick head of yours"

" So, like can we get going or what? I'm starving!" Michelangelo whined wanting nothing more than to pick up a few pies and head home as it was already nearing midnight.

" Yeah Mikey we can go home now!" Leonardo chuckled at how his nineteen year old baby brother could still pout like a six year old as they all began heading back to the fire escape.

" I'll call in our usual and we can pick it up on the way!" Michelangelo chimed happily as he had once again gotten his way.

" I'll ride Raphie…" Kira called out without realizing her slipup causing said turtle to nearly slip off the steal stairs in front of her causing his brothers to burst out in laughter as she then corrected herself " with , WITH Raphie! Gutter-minded much? Boys..."

" What did do you expect Sis, we live in the Sewers!" Donatello pointed out logically ducking out of range of his hot-headed brother to be on the safer side of Leonardo.

Watching their interaction from the shadows, Karai sighed heartbrokenly at the sight of her daughter and her noticeably missing left hand. Clenching her fist tightly she made a silent vow right there that Hun will pay for the harm he has done to her. " Eye for an eye, I swear that Hun will pay dearly for what he has done to my Daughter!" she growled as the long forgotten feeling of vengeance once again filled her. She wasn't there to protect her only child before but now that she was around that will greatly change. She still remained in command of most of the Foot clan, those who were loyal to Hun left years ago and its has once again been nothing but bad blood between the two factions.

Arriving back at the lair, Splinter was waiting on them expectantly as they stepped out of the elevator and stopped dead in their tracks. All five knew they were in trouble by the displeased glare in the old Rats eyes.

" Do you have any idea what time it is?" He demanded rapping his walking stick on the stone floor furiously.

Leonardo was about to speak until Kira stepped forward still trying to hide how painful her right hip was with each step and bowed deeply before him. " My Apologies Master! For both raising my voice to you this afternoon and for keeping them out so late. I was just having so much fun out there tonight that we lost track of time."

Softening his expression slightly as he looked at her, he nodded " Your apology is excepted!" Placing his hand onto her shoulder he waited until she was looking up at him before continuing " I have become accustomed to such outbursts with raising four sons, it was only a matter of time before I would hear it from my Daughter! " he stated voicing his officially excepting her as one of his children.

Kira and the Turtles began to smile excitedly at the pronouncement that they all jumped in shock as the displeasure once again filled the old rats face " That does not excuse any of you for having left our home without notifying me of your late return! ALL OF YOU TO THE DOJO!" He commanded scolding each one of them in his authority as the Grandmaster of their Clan.

Lowering their heads obediently, the food was quickly placed in the refrigerator, as they were about to face the merciless night long training session that they were about to have in punishment.


(** story note: MMA fighter Nick Newell)