A/N: Hi there! Thanks for all the comments guys! It really helped! Here is chapter 9! Okay i PROMISE i will have turtle and turtle interaction in the next chapter!

I OWN NOTHING!

Enjoy!

Chapter 9

"Freedom lies in being bold."

― Robert Frost

To the old tiger's mild surprise, after the three of them had sat down and had breakfast, Leonardo hadn't shown any real signs of excitement for that night's great escapade, just the occasional eager grin or questions he asked Karai about the places they would go check out. Other than that, the two of them just hung out together, either sparring in the gardens to let off steam (or to simply show off) or…on the roof, much to Tiger Claw's mild annoyance. But of course, living with a teenage ninja (whose best and only friend also happened to be a ninja) they couldn't keep still or sit in one place for too long. Both of the tended to get bored easily when there was nothing to do, and when they got bored, they tended to get mischievous. It was during their boredom that Karai had asked Tiger Claw a very sensitive question…

"What the hell happened to your tail?"

Tiger Claw's expression flattened, his mouth forming a thin line. Since Karai was a very regular visitor over the years, Tiger Claw even agreed to train her on occasions, be it on languages or on other foreign fighting styles. So in turn, he had begun to see her almost like a daughter of sorts, much like how Leonardo saw her as an older sister. So it was that whenever she stepped out of line, he was able to scold her accordingly. And after that little question, he picked her up by the back of her head, holding her above the ground and giving her head a little squeeze until she eventually begged for mercy. Instead of helping, Leo only stood by and laughed at her punishment.

They had left him alone after that, much to his salvation. However, later in the afternoon after lunch, Tiger Claw noticed that Karai was sitting outside on the grass in the front garden by herself, her legs crossed and her upper body leaning forward as she rested her elbows on her knees, staring down at a flower she was picking away at. Confused, Tiger Claw stepped out of the house to stand beside her. Acknowledging the mutant cat's presence, (and flinching ever so slightly out of fear of another head crusher) Karai looked up from her near petal-less flower as he asked her, "Where is Leonardo?"

In response, Karai gave him a smirk, turning back to her flower. "He said he needed to do something in the forest alone. He should be back in a minute," she replied coolly. She stopped picking at the flower, and she cast a curious look back up at the tiger. "…do you know what he does when he's alone?" she asked.

Quirking a confused brow, Tiger Claw shook his head. "Not unless there is something he is not telling me," he said, staring out into the forest beyond the bushes that hid their home, "Usually he would venture out into the forests merely to train or to listen to that old radio you gave him seven years ago."

Despite herself, Karai smiled fondly at that, flicking her hair from her face with a jerk of her head. She still couldn't believe he kept that. "I thought he'd be attached to that old thing," she said, "But…that's not the only thing he does."

Tiger Claw looked back down at her. "What do you mean?" he asked, not liking the ominous tone in the kunoichi's voice.

Karai smiled. "Well, he told me to promise not to tell you, and his loyalty is…pretty important to me, since he's kind of like the brother I never had and stuff. You'll have to go and see for yourself," she sassed, standing up in one fluid movement with her dismantled flower still in her gloved hand as she walked back the house, kicking off her boots before she entered and flashing Tiger Claw another smirk. "If it's alright, I'm gonna make myself a snack and then take a nap while you go find 'birthday turtle'. You don't mind if I use you cheese, do you?"

Tiger Claw shook his head, smiling despite himself. "Go ahead. I'll be back soon. Just don't make a mess. And if you do, clean it up."

Karai shrugged nonchalantly before disappearing into the kitchen. That girl; sometimes he could understand her, sometimes he couldn't. Just like her colder father, he sometimes mused. Shaking his head, he turned and began walking down the path in search for his son. He would be able to track the boy down with little difficulty, thanks to his sensitive sense of smell, and though he couldn't trust Karai with a few things despite their relationship, he knew even she wouldn't mess up the house…

Well, he hoped she wouldn't anyways.

As soon as he came through the bushes and entered the forest itself, he was met with nothing but peace. The sounds of birds chirping their melodies, the occasional sound of animals scurrying about in the bushes, and the beams of sunlight breaking through the multi-coloured leaves of the trees overhead, which fell from their branches and fluttered down to the ground and crunched beneath his feet. He couldn't help but relax himself as he took in a deep breath through his nose, and then letting it out again in content sigh. No wonder Leo loved wandering out here. He often wondered if he would have done the same thing if he never met Leo…no, probably not. He was a different man before Leo came into his life, nowhere near as warm or caring as he was now. Well, as Leo grew older, he had to learn how to adjust how he treated the mid-teen, but the love never changed.

His ear twitched.

Damn that thing sometimes. What was it now?

His eyes widened slightly as the sound finally entered his ears. Someone was…humming?

Eyes darting all around his surroundings in confusion, he tried to find the source of the humming. It was coming from somewhere high up, that much he could tell, but he just needed to find out where they were, and if they were human…

He spotted him. And his eyes widened even further when he realized just who it was. It was none other than his son, Leonardo, sitting high up on a thick tree branch with his shell facing the staring tiger, and his dangling legs swinging in tune to his humming. What was he doing up there? His face was up turned to the skies above, and though he couldn't see his face, the tiger presumed he was smiling. He turned to his right when a small brown bird flew down to perch itself next to him, chirping up at the strange looking turtle. The mutant cat could now see the smile on his son's face as he made little whistling sounds similar to a birds' call, holding out his large green hand out to the bird. After a moment, the bird hopped into his palm, and Leo set it down on his lap, lightly petting it as he began to hum again. Tiger Claw smiled at the sight as he shook his head. The boy had a tendency to climb up to high places, especially trees, and simply sit there and interact with the animals, almost as if he was truly connected to the forest. In fact, he sometimes caught him acting like a tiger would when they went hunting, his blue scarf covering his face and his body low on the ground (and he even mimicked his growling.) The boy could be a real animal sometimes.

Though he had never heard him hum before.

He was about to call to him to ask what he was doing, when something took him utterly by surprise and stopped him in his tracks.

As he looked down at the small bird in his hands, Leonardo started singing.

"A voice calls softly

It calls from within

To trust my steps

And to keep on dreaming,"

"Around night falls and all turns to grey

But I hold a light to light my way."

"The sky is a clear blue

No matter what we do

The road is long

But I see the light

That shines at the end

The arms reaching in

I know that you are waiting for me."

"Though sorrows, troubles

May gather up high

Broken glass pieces

Fall from the sky

Memories though sad

Will hold something true

Shattered glass pieces

Reflect something new…"

Tiger Claw found himself completely speechless as he listened, staring up at the boy in disbelief. His voice…it was actually very beautiful. It was soft, yet confident and calming, almost as if it were a lullaby of some sort. Where did he learn to sing like this? In fact, where had he learned this song? Is this what Karai said he usually did when he was alone in the forest? He actually sang to himself?

"A voice calls softly

It calls from within

To trust my steps

And to keep on dreaming,"

"Around night falls and all turns to grey

But I hold a light deep in my heart

I knew you were waiting right from the start…"

Leonardo's song came to an end as he let out a quiet sigh, and as he released the bird and watched it fly away into the skies, the forest became silent once again. Tiger Claw continued to stare up at the boy in silent wonder. Should he say something? Should he clap? Or should he just turn and leave, pretending he had seen nothing at all? After all, if this was indeed what Karai had meant when she had said that she promised never to tell, then this must be something that the boy, despite how close they had become, didn't want his father to find out about. And those lyrics…they sounded heartfelt, personal almost…

"You just gonna stand down there, or are you gonna say something?"

The sound of Leonardo's voice snapped Tiger Claw out of his thoughts as he looked back up, finding that the turtle had turned around to look down upon the tiger with a small smile as he leaned forward slightly, his padded elbows resting on his knees as he gazed down at his father. He didn't seem angry at all; in fact he seemed to be rather satisfied, though Tiger Claw knew not why just yet. Tiger Claw smiled back. "I was going to ask you what you were doing up there," he began, "but then I heard that. Where did you learn that?"

Leo shrugged, still smiling despite the tint of red on his cheeks as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, I learned it from –"

He stopped short as his smile fell completely, and he looked off to the side. There was a look in his eyes that the old tiger recognized, but in the next instant it was gone again as Leo looked back down at him. "…I-I heard it once on Karai's radio," he said with a slight stutter, "the next time Karai came over, I asked her the name of that song and the lyrics…so she showed me and…yeah."

Tiger Claw knew whenever Leo was lying. His eyes would always dart to the side, and his fingers would twitch at his sides. Leo rarely ever lied to him, for they told each other nearly everything because of how close they had become, (and due to the fact that Leo was a terrible liar). However, it wasn't the fact that he lied that worried him. It was the almost haunted, reminiscent look in his eyes as they shifted to the side that made Tiger Claw think. It was clear that Karai obviously hadn't been the one to teach him that song.

It was someone else he had known. And yet after all those years, he still remembered that as well.

The amount of things Leonardo remembered from his early childhood was amazing, and almost worrying, but he decided not to press the issue further, and instead he offered Leonardo another smirk. "I see. Well then, you have an excellent voice, my son," he said with a hint of teasing to his voice, "I wish I had a video camera for that." Leo pouted in embarrassment, making Tiger Claw chuckle, which then resulted in Leo throwing an acorn at his head, which Tiger Claw caught with ease before it hit the mark. Shaking his head as he tossed the acorn away, Tiger Claw beckoned him down. "Come now, Leonardo. Let us return home. Your so-called 'sister' is alone waiting for us," he said.

Leo nodded, and with a quick flip and a jump, he leapt off the branch onto another, and then used a thick vine to slide the rest of the way down, landing just in front of Tiger Claw in a low crouch. He straightened up and dusted his hands off in satisfaction as he looked up at the cat. Tiger Claw rolled his eyes. "Show-off," he scoffed.

Leo folded his arms and shifted his weight onto one side as he rolled his eyes as well. "Kuso kurae," he mumbled under his breath.

Tiger Claw snapped his head towards him. "What was that?" he asked lowly with a slight growl.

Leo's eyes widened as he stood to attention. "Nothing, Sensei!" he replied tensely with a lopsided nervous smile. He was so dead now.

Tiger Claw narrowed his eyes at the turtle, and before he could possibly escape, he grabbed Leo by the shoulder and pulled him forward enough so that he could reach down and clamp his jaws on his head, hard. This was a form of scolding that the tiger usually gave him whenever he stepped that little bit out of line, a punishment he had been using ever since he was little (or even as a form of play.) It was hard, but nowhere near hard enough to make the turtle bleed of course, but hard enough so he wouldn't be going anywhere, and that he would beg for mercy. Which after a few seconds, he did. "Ow ow ow ow, okay I'm sorry!" Leo protested as he tried to loosen the tiger's grip on his head, but to no avail of course, and even though it was slightly painful, he couldn't hold back the laughter. It kinda tickled. "Please, ow, it hurts, ow, you're gonna crush my skull, ow, please freaking let GO!"

To the teenaged turtle's relief, the tiger finally let go of his head, chuckling as he folded his hands behind his back, watching the boy rub the sore parts of his head. "I hope you have learned, young cub," he said with a hint of smugness, "that he who runs his mouth gets a dented head."

Leo let out a muffled groan as he shook his head to get rid of the tingling pain. "Ouch. More like a chewed head. And I'm not a cub anymore," he snorted.

"On the contrary," Tiger Claw snickered as he rubbed a paw on his son's head, "you will always be a cub."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Leo chuckled as the two of them began to walk back to the house together in companionable silence. However, as they trekked back through the forest side by side, Tiger Claw's mind was still pondering over that song. Obviously Leo had learned it back when he was a child, most likely from the rat that used to be his father…but the lyrics seemed so profound…Perhaps he had been singing from his heart? Or was he singing about the past?

He would probably never know.

Later that evening, as the hour finally approached, Leonardo looked at his reflection one last time in the bathroom mirror. His blue mask was tied on, his blue scarf draped around his neck and the tails resting on the back of his shell, his belts and pads on as well as the twin Katanas secured on his back. Everything was in check. Well, apart from the anxieties bubbling up inside the pit of his stomach. He had been so calm and collected throughout the entire day, outwardly that is, and only now he was showing signs of his true nervousness. Was he really ready for this? He had convinced his Sensei that he was, and even Karai had faith in him. Surely he could do this, right? After all, it wasn't his first time in the city…

…it was just his first time in the city being free. Free from the confinements of the forest despite how much he loved it, free from the command of The Shredder…and free from all the anger and hatred that he had bottled up inside of him since that day…

A knock on the bathroom door caught his attention, and the door opened to reveal Karai herself, dressed in her black Shinobi Shōzoku and silver armour. She leaned casually against the door frame as she looked him up and down. She whistled. "Damn. You fit all your knives in there?" she mocked with a playful smirk. "It's nine o'clock, almost go time. You ready?"

Leo turned to face her fully, taking in a deep breath through his nose and letting it out again. He nodded. "I'm ready."

Moments later, the two young ninjas were stood before Tiger Claw, their backs straight and their hands by their sides as they looked up at him respectfully. In turn, Tiger Claw gazed down at them with his hands folded behind his back, so that he could hide the nervous twitching. This was it. He was going to allow his only son and his rebellious, troubling making friend venture out into the city without him for the first time since they had begun working together. Inwardly, he was dreading it, but outwardly, he showed no such thing. "You are going out into a strange and hostile world, Leonardo," he began firmly, "you must maintain awareness and stay together at all times."

Leo and Karai bowed to him. "Hai, Sensei!" the chorused, and then they both turned towards the door.

"Stay in the shadows!" Tiger Claw said, stopping them in their tracks as they turned back and bowed again.

"Hai, Sensei," they said again.

"Don't talk to strangers!"

Leo and Karai shared a frown and raised their brow. "Hai, Sensei –"

"Everyone is a stranger!"

Karai smirked, and Leo blushed slightly as he pouted. "Hai, Sensei," they droned with a roll of their eyes, (seriously, he wasn't her father) and then the two of them spun around and had just touched the grass before Tiger Claw called out once more:

"Leonardo, make sure you go before you leave! The restrooms up there are filthy!"

Leo tasted dirt as he jaw practically dropped to the ground, his eyes shooting open and his cheeks turning a furious shade of red as next to him, Karai slapped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to conceal her laughter, but to no avail. Leo spun on his heel as he glared embarrassedly at Tiger Claw. "SENSEI!" he cried, his voice cracking higher than normal.

Tiger Claw sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry…good luck, my son," he said with a smile that was almost apologetic. Despite his earlier embarrassment, Leo smiled back at him, and after sharing a nod and a grin with Karai, the two of them dashed off through the bushes and into the forest towards the city. Now Leo's previous anxiety was replaced with a buzz of excitement. This was no killing mission. Now, he was with his best friend, his sister of sorts, about to venture into the city and see it truly for himself.

Tonight, he would be free.

There were no words to express what he felt in that moment. It wasn't fear, but it wasn't joy. It wasn't sadness, but it wasn't jubilancy. No, it was something far better than that. As Leonardo stood upon one of the highest buildings in the city, side by side with his friend, gazing down at the glimmering city lights below them, listening to the sound of cars and millions upon millions of humans as they moved on with their normal lives, smelling the sweet aromas of the food and the beautiful kimonos among other kinds of stunning clothing, only one thing came to mind.

"…incredible…" he breathed, his eyes never leaving the city landscape.

Her arms folded over her armored chest, Karai nodded and smiled. "Hmm. It depends on where you're standing, but yeah…it's pretty cool up here," she said, taking a strange satisfaction upon watching the blue clad turtle stare down in wonder as she walked over, resting her elbow against his shoulder. "I knew you'd like it, too. I come up here every once in a while, y'know, just to clear my head, get some space away from my father…just like you go into the forest away from Tiger Claw."

Leo turned to her and raised a brow, not amused. "There's a difference – a big difference – between my father and yours, no offense. I'm not trying to get away from him…I just need a little room for thoughts. And I just don't understand how you can stand being in his presence," he said, a frown on his face as he remembered the blood thirsty man.

Karai shrugged. "He is kinda the guy who raised me. And believe it or not, he was a nice guy when I was little…well, kind of. But yeah, he drives me crazy, and this whole 'revenge' thing he has going on," she chuckled using air quotes to further her point, "is literally all he ever talks about besides business crap. Revenge, revenge, vendetta, vendetta."

Leo grinned at her with his own chuckle, shaking his head at the girl. "I take it you don't approve?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine with it. I'm just saying, he needs a hobby."

Leo actually laughed at that. "Well, forget about your father for now," he said, taking her small hand in his larger green one as he grinned eagerly, "where do we go first?"

The girl's mischievous returned. "Follow me, goody-three-toes," she teased, and with that, the two of them leapt off the edge of the high building, gravity pulling them towards the earth as they fell freely, but neither ninja were afraid.

For them, it was as close as they would ever get to flying.

"Master Shredder?"

Inside his office room, Oroku Saki, or known by his many minions and allies as The Shredder, looked up from the documents on his desk and at the two Foot Soldiers that had entered the room. He looked at the clock on the wall; it read 11:55 at night. His next 'meeting' wasn't scheduled until midnight, though he was expecting Karai to be back by now. He turned back to the ninjas at the door. "What is it? It had better be important," he said warningly. He did not appreciate being interrupted in his work, and they all knew that very well.

The ninjas both bowed in respect to their master before speaking. "There is something that has just appeared on the news that might be of great interest to you, sir," one spoke, "It seems that there have been reports of…ninjas in New York, sir."

Interest sparked in the ninja master as he creased his brows in curiosity. "What? Ninjas in New York?" he repeated, putting a finger to his chin and humming in thought for a moment. Though he did have a base situated in Manhattan, he had sent none of his ninjas out into America at all in the past few months for any reason – well, all except from Bradford that is – and unless they had a death wish, none of his clan would dare allow themselves to be seen by the public. This had to be the work of some other ninja clan. Standing up from his chair, Shredder nodded once to his men. "Very well. Show me," he said. The two ninjas nodded, and they led him back to his main 'throne room' if you will, where a large screen had the paused image of an American News reporter on Channel 6 News. Apparently this was a playback from yesterday (in New York of course.) Taking a seat on his throne, Shredder watched the screen as the ninja posted at his side pressed the play button on the remote.

"…a report of, get this, Ninjas in NewYork! Don't believe me? After residents reported a disturbance, the police recovered this."

The image of a shuriken appeared on the screen, and Shredder's eyes widened for a moment as he stared at it. That symbol…he remembered it anywhere. It was burned into his memory like the flames of the home he had burned to the ground…along with whom he had thought was his friend, his brother…and now his most hated enemy. And yet there it was, before his very eyes. It was the symbol of the clan that had been responsible for the fall of the Foot many years ago, the clan filled with liars and thieves that were a disgrace to the ninjas name…

It was the crest of the Hamato Clan.

Hamato Yoshi was alive.

"…so, my old nemesis is in New York, and training his own army," he said, his eyes narrowing darkly as the flames of vengeance burned behind them once more. "At last…I can finish what I started so long ago." He darted his eyes over to the soldier on his right. "Prepare my jet," he ordered, and with a bow, the ninja went to go do his master's bidding. From its perch on the arm of his throne, Shredder picked up his helmet, sliding back onto his head as he stood up, the shadows giving his body a haunting yet powerful and foreboding appearance.

"…I am going to visit an old friend."

It felt like years, but in reality, only hours had passed during their little city adventure. They had leapt over buildings one by one, enjoying the addicting sense of freedom as they seemed to soar together. They had even stopped on one rooftop to ensue a quick sparring match, something they both loved doing. Fighting was in their blood, it was nearly all they had ever known, and they were more than happy to put their skills to use for something other than killing, and simply have fun. In the end though, Karai managed to get the upper hand, much to Leo's dismay, but he didn't hold it against her. After all, it was only sparring, and she had more experience than Leo did.

Karai had stepped into a few shops for Leo, buying all sorts of food such as ramen, candy canes, dango on a stick, and she had even bought him his own satchel, something as a personal gift from her to him, which he was very grateful for. Karai even filled up a few balloons she had bought along with the satchel with water, and the two of them dropped them upon the heads of unsuspecting people below. Leo felt a little guilty about it, but after seeing their reactions, that guilt washed away as he and his human friend dissolved into fits of laughter.

All in all, it was a good night. In fact, it could have been the greatest night of the young turtle's life.

However, like all good things, it quickly came to an end at the stroke of midnight, when Karai's phone rang in her pocket. They both shared a groan and a long-suffering look. "Aw man," Karai grumbled as she looked at the time on her phone, and the picture of the caller. Since Karai had no real human friends, and Leo didn't have a phone, her father's number was the only one she had. Though it wasn't as if he was going to allow her to have any other phone number on there anyways, being the slightly overprotective father he was. Rolling her eyes skyward, she answered the phone, putting it on loudspeaker. "Moshi moshi?" she answered.

Her father's deep voice came from the device. "Karai, where are you?"

She and Leo fought a smirk. "I'm in the city near the movies. I was just going to catch one by myself. Why?"

"Go back to Leonardo and Tiger Claw, and tell them to report to me immediately, and you do the same. We are leaving for New York in a few hours."

Their playfulness vanished in an instant, and was replaced with immense confusion as they shared another look. "…uh, okay," Karai stammered, "I'll get right on it. But may I ask why, father?"

"…Hamato Yoshi is alive."

Everything suddenly came screeching to a halt as Karai's unseeing eyes shot wide open, her blood going cold as her heart froze in the pit of her chest. The colour seemed to vanish from her face as she stared down at the phone in her hands, which slipped from numb fingers and clattered on the rooftop they were standing on, but she didn't notice.

He was alive.

The man who took her away, who ruined all of their lives, was in New York. He was alive.

She didn't hear Leo's voice calling out to her, telling her to snap out of it. She didn't feel her legs suddenly wobble beneath her as she collapsed, until suddenly everything went black.

"KARAI!" Leo cried, diving for the kunoichi as she collapsed, catching her just before the back of her head hit the concrete. Quickly, he checked her pulse by pressing two fingers against her neck, and sighed in relief once he found a steady beat. She was fine; she simply fainted. And despite not knowing the full details, he completely understood why. From the many conversations they had over their years together, Karai had once told him about a man named Hamato Yoshi, who was known by the Shredder as his 'old nemeses', or his worst enemy. They had once been like brothers, until Hamato betrayed him. He had killed Karai's mother, Tang Shen, and had tried to steal her away from Shredder as a baby, until Shredder burnt the home to the ground. They had thought Hamato had perished in the flames…

…but apparently, that was no longer the case.

Apart from the fact that he and Karai were friends, pity was another reason Leo couldn't find it in him to kill Shredder. If he did, Karai would be on her own, having lost a mother and a father. He had killed before, but he wasn't that cold. He wasn't born a heartless killer. Not like Hamato Yoshi, or The Shredder himself.

"Leonardo?"

Shredder's voice from the abandoned phone caught his attention, and he picked it up and spoke into it, "Yes, Master Shredder. Karai is alright; she just passed out. I will see to it that Tiger Claw and I are at your headquarters as soon as possible, sir."

There was a short silence between the two of them, before Shredder finally spoke again. "Very well. Wake her up and get here quickly. I do not want to be kept waiting."

Leo stifled a growl. "Understood, master," he forced out. And without another word, Shredder hung up on him. Sighing heavily, Leo looked back down at the unconscious Karai in his arms, a sad frown on his features. Seeing her so happy before, seeing her laughing and playing pranks and sparring together, and then to see her actually faint from the shock of the news that the man who had killed her mother was alive…it just ruined everything.

For her, and for him.

Making sure he was gentle, Leo quickly but carefully lifted her up into his arms, holding her safely against his chest as he bounded across the rooftops, back towards the forest.

It appeared that no matter what he did, no matter where he went, Leo would never, and could never be free.

A/N: Poor Karai and Leo...

The song was an English version of Itsumo Nando Demo from Spirited Away, and I thought it would fit for Leo to sing something like that on his own. I DON'T OWN THE SONG!

Next Chapter: We leave the forest behind and journey to America!