Thanks to Sapphire93, mav32, Kyaserin Marii, aronoiiel, Rose of Hope, BubblyShell22, BigfootSighted, Merdeka21, hmw95, and Lady-of-the-Rings, 54Viruses, Julia-Catherine, Paranoid Puppy, and Katiesmeghead for your reviews. I write for you guys. I still don't own the turtles (but I do own Kizake )). Enjoy!

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Leo ran after Kizake, holding his chest and wheezing. The pain was catching up with him, but he didn't care. This man had taken everything from him, and he was going to make him pay. Leo tried to keep his mind off of his brothers, knowing that if he thought of them he would break down and be unable to continue. After he had killed this man, then he could think about his brothers.

Leo still hadn't seen Kizake, but he knew he was headed in the right direction. He could tell that the man wanted him to follow based on the number of signs left; any man who could train an army of ninjas could at least run down a hallway without turning over everything in his way. But again, he didn't care. He wanted to find Kizake, and Kizake wanted to be found. So it worked out well for both of them. Leo would catch up to him, defeat him, destroy his base and his whole ninja army, and them after that he didn't care. He seemed to be doing a lot of not caring recently.

Leo skidded to a stop at a split in the hallway, wondering which way to go. But a quick glance down one of the new passageways told him immediately which one Kizake had taken. A loud crash up ahead also indicated that he was catching up. He took off again immediately, absently reaching for his swords before remembering they had been taken from him. Well, that was one more reason to be mad at this guy. As if he needed another reason….

Leo rounded a corner quickly and came face-to-face with the man and ten of his ninjas. Normally ten inexperienced ninjas would be nothing but a slight nuisance to Leo, but normally he had his swords and was able to move without sending pain shooting through his whole body. Now, however, Leo was dreading fighting the ninjas. He let out a hoarse cry and leapt at the closest ninja, prepared to kill with his bare hands. But Kizake stepped in the way, blocking him easily.

"No, turtle. Your fight is with me; it seems we both have scores to settle with each other. They are here only to guard against treachery," the man said, all of his old calm collectedness back in place.

And who's going to watch my back? he thought bitterly. You took away my back-up. But he only grunted and took a step back, preparing for a fight. Kizake also got ready, pulling out a katana from under his coat. Indignation quickly filled Leo. "You have no honor! Bearing a weapon against an unarmed warrior?"

"Look behind you, turtle." Leo turned his head warily, not trusting the man for one moment. Behind him stood one of Kizake's ninjas, holding one of Leo's katanas in his hands and offering it to him. It was only one, but it leveled the playing field. Leo had trained with only one sword as much as with two. He took the katana without taking a second glance at the ninja and turned back to fully face Kizake. The two raised their swords to a battle-ready stance and began to circle each other.

Leo noticed with satisfaction that as his training kicked in and he became focused, the pain faded to the back of his mind. That was one less distraction for now. He waited for Kizake to make the first move. When the man raised his sword over his head to strike, Leo prepared to block the blow. The katanas connected with a flare of sparks. The two ninjas backed away, preparing to meet again. This time, Leo couldn't wait. He leapt into the air, aiming a kick for Kizake's chest while at the same time meeting his sword with his own. Kizake saw the move coming and sidestepped it, blocking the katana. Leo landed and paused for only a second to catch his breath before whirling around and striking again. Kizake ducked under Leo's blow and swiped at his feet with his own sword; Leo jumped over the weapon and landed a few feet back, breathing harder.

Kizake lunged at Leo, aiming his sword for his head. Leo only had enough time to block the blow before another one came. And another. Leo was losing ground quickly; it he didn't do something soon he could lose to the man. Losing wasn't an option—not when he had to avenge his brothers. He kicked out at Kizake's feet, but the man was too fast. He leapt over the kick while at the same time bringing his sword down to meet Leo's—hard. The force of the blow combined with Leo's already precarious balance caused the injured turtle to fall backward into the wall. Dazed, he struggled to his feet, only to be met with a swift kick to his chest.

Leo flew backward, again hitting the wall. He coughed, spewing blood all over his already bleeding plastron. He gasped for breath and clutched at his chest; all the pain had been revived with that one blow. He looked up to see Kizake standing over him, holding his sword above his head.

"You're pathetic, turtle. You cannot even defeat me in a fair fight. I gave you back your weapon and met you on equal ground and you still cannot even put up a fight. Aren't you glad your brothers aren't here to see you now? They would be so ashamed…." Leo had heard enough. With more speed than he ever thought possible he had kicked Kizake in the stomach, sending him flying backward, and had landed on top of him, his sword at his throat.

"Don't you ever speak of my brothers again, you bastard," he hissed menacingly. "Fair fight? How is torturing someone for days before giving them a weapon and fighting them fair? You know nothing of fairness, or honor, or humanity!" Leo's voice was rising now. "You rip my brothers away from me and then mock the pain you caused…. You have no heart! You're a monster—I don't believe you ever really loved your wife. You have no capacity to love!" Leo lifted his sword above his head and plunged it through the man's chest, barely to the left of his heart.

In the split second before Leo was roughly pulled off of Kizake and pinned to the ground by the surrounding ninjas, he saw the immense pain on the man's face—not the physical pain that was written on the man's face, but the emotional agony deep in his eyes. Leo almost regretted his speech… almost. Now he merely gave in to the hands holding him to the ground, not caring about the many katanas held to his throat and chest. This man was dying, and Leo had avenged his brothers. Now he could join them….

"Let him go." Kizake's words nearly caused Leo to stop his labored breathing. Had he just told his ninjas to let him go! He felt the hands falter before lifting away from his bruised and broken body, slowly and cautiously. The ninjas lowered their swords and backed away, leaving him lying on his shell on the ground, wheezing and bleeding. He looked at the man who had almost killed him and then let him go; Kizake was sitting up, slowly, painfully. "You are right, Leonardo. I have lost my humanity." He seemed regretful, sorrowful. Leo could hardly believe his ears. "But if you say that I did not love my wife, you could not be farther from the truth. She was my world, my life. She was all I had, and she was taken from me. I knew it was not your fault, truly… the paramedics told me she would not have survived the burns even had you not stabbed her…. But, when I lost her, I lost myself. I wanted nothing more than to avenge her, to take out my pain on something, someone…. And the only one I could think of was you. I truly did become a monster…." Kizake was wheezing now, his short, raspy breaths contrasting with Leo's long, labored ones.

"Wha… what are you saying?" The man looked at him with tears in his eyes.

"You have saved me, Leonardo. I tortured you and took everything away from you, and you saved me. Your love for your brothers, you undying loyalty…. They reminded me of what I once felt for my wife, before I was so overcome with hate and vengeance." The man stopped speaking and coughed, causing blood to drip down his chin. Leo dragged himself over to the man, all thoughts and wishes for vengeance draining away. Kizake was now leaning against the wall for support, and Leo could tell that he didn't have long to live.

"I'm sorry…. I also became absorbed in revenge. I thought I had failed my brothers, that the only way to redeem myself was to kill you. I forgot that you suffered the same loss I did."

"No," Kizake rasped with obvious effort. "Your brothers… are not dead… I lied to you… they are here, alive…." Leo was stunned. His brothers, alive? Was it possible?

"Where! Are they harmed? Where are they?"

"They are… fine…." Leo could tell the man was fading quickly. All he wanted to do was find out where his brothers were and go to them, but he knew he could not leave Kizake now. He had something he had to tell him.

"Kizake, your wife… before she died… she asked me to tell you that… that she loved you," Leo croaked. Kizake smiled and closed his eyes.

"Thank you, Leonardo. I can rest now…." Kizake fell limp and Leo laid him on the floor before turning to the ninjas who were watching, stunned.

"Take me to my brothers."

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Okay, so Leo turned out to be a little dark in this chapter, but I think that's how he would be if he lost his brothers. I'm sorry if you hate me for making Kizake out to not be so bad, but I've always had a soft spot for bad guys who are really good, just have had bad things happen to them. Sorry if you hate that…. Anyway, again Leo's section turned out to be so long that the other guys'll have to be next chapter (actually Leo probably will be in the next chapter too )). Anyway, please let me know what you think. Thanks for reading faithfully.