Hi Raven claw, thank you for the review, and no worries, I do plan on finishing my story, it may take a while since I have family, work and school to deal with but it will be done so please continue to review and let me know what you think. :) Peace
Ch 3 Some Fatherly Advice.
The next day in the dojo, Splinter watched his four sons spar heatedly against each other as well as his other students. When he paired the four turtles together, their hits and kicks were strong and boarding on dangerous. Against the other students they were purposeful but not as deliberate but still it concerned him. After the current class was over, he bid farewell to his students and ordered the turtles to stay behind.
"I have had enough of this behavior," He told them angrily as they knelt in front of him with their heads bowed low, "You four are pitting yourselves against each other and I wish to know why?" When the turtles would not answer, Splinter continued, "For the last three classes, each of you have not only come dangerously close to hurting each other but you came very close to hurting my other students," He stroked his beard and leaned in close, looking them straight in the eyes and waiting for one of them to open up, "If you will not tell me what is going on perhaps an hour of cleaning might change your minds."
"Oh come on Sensei," Raphael grumbled as the other three groaned, "Just because we don't want to talk about what's going on is no reason to punish us."
"When you start endangering my students it is!" Splinter angrily shot back, "Now no more of this foolishness, each of you will get a bucket full of water, a sponge or a mop and start cleaning this dojo," He watched as they groaned and slowly got to their feet, "NOW!"
The turtles forced themselves to move faster and within minutes, Splinter watched as the four brothers began cleaning the walls, the floor and the equipment of the dojo. After the hour had gone by, Leo placed his sponge in his bucket and turned to Splinter, "Sensei," He began, "We're sorry about what happened, but, it's just that…." Leo looked at his brothers in uncertainty.
"Go on," Splinter coaxed intently.
"Well, it's not that we don't want to talk to about it," He told him, "It's just that we prefer to work it out amongst ourselves."
Splinter looked from one turtle to the other as Leo's brothers echoed his sentiment, "I understand and respect your wishes my sons," Splinter said as they again knelt on the floor and watched him pace in front of them, "But you must understand that if your competitiveness is going to interfere with the training of my students or cause harm to anyone in my establishment, then I have every right to find out why."
Splinter started toward the door, "You have fifteen minutes before the next class begins, if you wish to use that time to 'beat' on each other, as you kids would say, then by all means, I will allow you to do so," He stood at the door and watched as the turtles shuffled uneasily, "But I will be right outside if you would prefer to talk instead."
The four turtles watched him walk out the door, after a few minutes of awkward silence between them, Leo, filled with frustration and uncertainty, walked out and over to Splinter who was currently sitting behind his desk in the lobby of his dojo and going through paperwork. Splinter looked up as Leo came over to him, "Sensei?"
"Yes Leonardo?"
Leo took a deep breath and looked back at the others in an attempt to figure out how to approach his master without giving away too much detail, "You see Sensei, it's like this," He rubbed his tired eyes, "Well, lets say, if you like someone, how would you get them to…." Leo blushed, "Well, you know, ummm, take an interest in you?"
Splinter chuckled at his sons awkwardness, "I see," He said as he stood, "Well, let me tell you a story," He began as he coaxed Leo back into the dojo and had him, along with the other turtles, sit down on the mats, "When I first met my beloved Tang Shen, I wanted desperately to get to know her, but I was shy and…."
"You Sensei!" Mikey looked at him incredulously, "I can't picture you ever being shy with anyone!"
Splinter chuckled, "Even a strong confident man can act very differently around the one he falls in love with Michelangelo," He explained.
"So what did you do?" Donnie asked, "How did you go about getting her to notice you?"
"Well, as I was saying," Splinter continued, "I was too shy to just go up to her and," Splinter paused as his eyes looked up toward the ceiling as he searched his mind for the right word, "Strike up a conversation, so to speak," His eyes twinkled as he looked from one son to the other "So I decided to speak with her mother so that I could find out what her hobbies and interests were," Splinter laughed as the memories came back to him, "I discovered she loved to cook so I enlisted the help of a neighbor to teach me how to make some simple yet extravagant meals."
"But Sensei," Raph shook his head, "You're a terrible cook."
"Yes Raphael, I know," Splinter frowned at him, "But when Shen found out that I was learning to cook just to impress her, she found that to be very admirable and well," He blushed lightly as the turtles looked from one to the other knowingly, "Let's just say that helped to 'break the ice' as you say."
Mikey looked up at him puzzled, "So Sensei, if you were learning how to cook, how come you're so bad at it."
Splinter ducked his head and his cheeks suddenly turned a bright red, "Well, let's just say that my neighbor refused to continue to teach me after I almost burned down her house."
He smiled brightly as the four brothers laughed. After a few minutes, Leo stood and nodded at his father, "So you're saying I…" He looked at the other turtles, "Or we, should learn about this girl's hobbies or interests and try to impress her by doing them."
Splinter looked at him confused, "Uhh, well, no, that is not exactly what I was trying to say," He began but the turtles quickly jumped up and began to walk out of the dojo.
"That's a great idea," Donnie said as he attempted to get ahead of his brothers, "I think I'll go do some research." Splinter watched as the four brothers picked up their pace and quickly walked out of the dojo and into the lobby.
"I think I'll do some researching too," Mikey declared as he attempted to get to the door first.
Splinter ran to the door of the dojo and watched in concern as the four brothers pushed and shoved each other in an attempt to be the first one out of the door that led to the street. He shook his head and walked back into the dojo to prepare for his next class with one thought going through his mind, 'This is not going to end well.'