Musaki begins to tell Splinter everything about his past. I hope this interests you.

Chapter 10: Getting to Know

As everyone is enjoying their dinner, they're all around the table, just talking to each other. Musaki sees them talking with each other, no issues coming out yet, though, he's a little nervous between both Raph and Tigress, because sooner, he's getting the feeling that he's gonna be attacked between both of them for no reason. He stares at both Raphael and Tigress and he got a little nervous, but he didn't want anyone else to show it. Suddenly, Leo looks at Musaki, quivering his lip a little and he said, "You okay there, Musaki?"

Musaki looks at Leo and replies, "Yeah, I'm...I'm cool."

Leo could sense that he's feeling mortified inside and asked, "You sure?"

"Positive." he said, quickly.

Leo wasn't buying it, because he knows something's up with him, but he was able to say, "Well, okay."

"So, what do we need to know about you, Musaki?" asked Donny.

Musaki looked puzzled for a sec and asked, "Me?"

"Yes, you. Is there anything interesting about you that we might want to know?"

"Yeah, like why are you here?" asked Raph.

Musaki took a few breaths and swallowed hard, but a gentle touch from his shoulder by Shifu and Splinter started giving him a little bit of confidence. He took a deep breath and said, "I used to be an orphan."

"You did?" asked Zuko.

"Yep."

"Well, where are your parents?" asked Splinter.

He knows that this is the question that they were gonna ask him, because at times, it can be difficult to talk about it without crying a few times, but he was ready to share his secrets towards their new friends. He sighed heavily and said, "When I was younger, both of them were...killed."

Mikey gasped in shock and asked, "By who?"

"Tai Lung."

"Tai who?" asked Raph.

"Tai Lung. I'm not gonna give you much about him, but what I can say is that dude can throw a punch faster than you can say 'Sayonara!'"

"He's that fierce, huh?"

"And dangerous."

"Where were you guys when they got attacked?"

"Rainbow Canyon. It's somehwere near the farthest parts of China. One morning, my dad heard something and all of a sudden, in pops out Tai Lung, coming at him. He attacked my dad and beaten him down to size, then he started coming after my mom. She put me in somewhere safe and soon after, he came after her and scratched her up. I was totally scared about seeing the whole thing, because when you're three and saw your parents get attacked by some crazy person, it'll leave you emotionally scarred."

"Wait. How old were you when this happened?" asked Leo.

"Three. Anyway, he tried to slaughter them, but then he heard a noise coming from behind. He swarmed over to where I was and when he saw me, he was coming over after me. I was completely scared that I was gonna die, but my dad prevented that from happening by knocking him down and my mom picked me up and tried to find a place where he wouldn't find me. All of a sudden, both of them were getting mauled and slaughtered by Tai Lung and he threw them down in a deepest, darkest part of the cave and I saw them go down on that dark place and I was so scared. All of a sudden, I just went down to where they were and my eyes saw in front of me-blood coming out. It was so disturbing and scary for me. None of them made it and I was breaking down in tears, because they just...didn't make it. Suddenly, I heard someone coming and it was Tai Lung. He wasn't finished with me yet and he was still coming in to kill me. I made a run for it and he was chasing me like crazy and when I got outside, I stood out to where the mountain is at-100 feet off the ground. I backed away slowly and then, those scary orange eyes were coming towards me. Just went it all seemed hopeless, some of the rhino guards came in and took him down in full force. Evidentally, they all saved my life, but all I could think about was my parents. They went over to the cave and saw them dead and I was the only one alive. When I told them they were my parents, they sent me to an orphange hoping that a family could come and adopt me, but as it turns out, I wasn't over my parents' death and I stayed in a dark room, just crying and feeling depressed all the time and many moments, I just cry myself to sleep every night, because I didn't know how to get over this and I just grieve every day of my life. Often times, I would dream about them and have nightmares about Tai Lung. I couldn't sleep at night without those scary orange eyes looking at me when I close my eyes, because everytime I do, I see Tai Lung coming back for me. I became lonely, isolated and became an outcast in that orphange because I wasn't as outgoing. It was pretty hard for me to make any new friends-well except for Shanghai, Sudoku, Miko, Ty, Sonic, Mookie, Seth, Brian and Joey, we've known each other pretty well until they were adopted after knowing them for three or four years when I was young-and I was always so lonely and I would often get bullied whenever I came out and that's where I started losing my self-confidence about being adopted. I would often think nobody wants me in their family, because I was always a sad young panda cub who lost both parents and don't know how to overcome this. So, I remained in that dark room for 10 whole years."

"10 years? That's a long time." Mikey said.

"Yeah, I know."

"Do you ever get out sometimes?"

"Well, sometimes I come out when I'm hungry, when I use the bathroom and often times, just practice my kung-fu skills."

"How old were you when you tried to master them?" asked Splinter.

"I was about seven or eight or maybe even ten. Not really sure."

"Who inspired you to do that?"

"Well, the Furious Five were huge, so I would often peek out my window and see them in the orphanage a few times every year to see their moves. I had a few favorite members there and my most favorite was pretty much either Mantis or Viper, but I was a huge fan of Mantis."

"You were?"

"Yeah, he was like my favorite member, because I can relate easily."

Hearing this made Mantis' chirp a little and hopped to his shoulder and asked, "Was I really your favorite member?"

"Yes and you still are."

Mantis smiled at him and said, "What did I do that made you relate to me?"

"The world is pretty big and I was pretty small."

"Yeah, you got me there."

"I was thinking to myself, 'One of these days, I might meet them.' And I would, but then I thought to myself, 'What if they don't like me? Maybe I'm not athletic enough or even good enough to do kung-fu', so I gave up on them for probably about a few years."

"You gave up believing that you could show your kung-fu skills to us?" asked Monkey.

"I was an amateur at this and I was afraid that I would suck at it, because I heard that you guys were tough critics and also like high-standards kung-fu training experience. So, it was kinda like 'Shifu's way or the highway.'"

"Musaki, we used to be like that, but after Po came and now you, we've changed."

"Except for Tigress."

"Very true."

"And to think I had a crush on her."

"You had a crush on Tigress?" asked Crane.

"I was nine! And I regret thinking that way that she exposed her true colors towards me."

"I cannot believe that you had a crush on me!" Tigress exclaimed.

"I thought that you would be both tough on the outside, but sweet on the inside, but after seeing you, it's all tough and critical both on the outside and inside."

"That's the way I am."

"It shows."

"And I'm disappointed to hear that you gave up worshipping us that you think we're not good enough and we haven't even met you yet."

"Cause...I'm too nervous."

Tigress looked at him in disgust and asked, "Why are you even here anyway?"

"Master Tigress! He's trying to look up to you." Shifu exclaimed.

"Since when?"

"Please continue with the story." Splinter said.

Musaki nodded his head and continued on. He said, "Anyways, the reason why I gave up on looking up to you guys was not that I don't like you anymore. It's because that I'm too shy and a little nervous that you might criticize me of my moves I tried practicing on and that I would screw it up and tell me that 'I will never amount to anything', so I gave up and remained in my dark shell. As the years go by, I grew older and when I was 11 or 12, I was finally over the loss of my parents and I was grieving for nine and a half years, but I still keep thinking about them. A day doesn't go by when I think about them and then when I turned 13, someone who's from the Jade Palace thought about taking me in Master Shifu by the suggestion of the caretaker of Bao Gu Orphanage, Ms. Fay. When I first came here, I was too shy to meet them in person, but I guess as the months go by after I lived there, I started getting used to it and seeing the Five growing close to me and everyone else, it feels as if I'm believing them again and looking up to them again and when I talk to them and train with me, my confidence level has boosted up a little and I became outgoing as I grew older. The little downside to this though is Tigress, because she isn't used to me being a little shy and somewhat just being me. I was able to deal with that, but at times, we get along and sometimes we feud like brothers and sisters. That's how I view the Five and Po...my family."

"That's sweet." Viper said.

"Yeah, and I've been happy with them ever since and I'm still happy now."

"I have to ask, did you have a father figure when you came here?" asked Donny.

"Shifu was. When I first heard of him, I was nervous to meet him, because he could be too strict and sometimes, hates kids. But as I got here, he got used to me and he's like the father I needed. He helped me do some kung-fu training and I've been excellent at it."

"Musaki has been easy to deal with these 2 years and I would have to say, he's better at kung-fu than I am." Shifu said.

"I still am, regardless of your size."

Shifu chuckled and said, "And you always bring laughs here."

"Some people say I look like Po, but there's no comparison."

"Why is that?" asked Leo.

"We have a few features; the shorts, the fur, and our personalities. What's different-he has green eyes, I have blue eyes. He's big as a temple of a mountain and I'm kinda smaller and thin. He's 20-something and I'm 15. That's how it goes."

"It's weird that you guys don't look anything alike."

"I guess that means that he can be the fastest panda in China and he's a lot better than me. Not as fast as me, though." Po said.

"Dude, when you try to run, you get tired quickly and eat a lot."

"I don't eat that much."

"Yeah, you do. Everything you snack on here, you grow huge."

"As crazy as this sounds, I have to agree with Musaki on this one. You do eat a lot." Tigress said.

"But who am I to judge on what you eat? Regardless if you're huge or tiny, you're like my big brother to me and how you are is cool with me either way."

He looks at the turtles and said, "And he looks up to me."

"You look up to me also."

"Very true."

"I didn't realize...they think you're so important. Why couldn't they just drop you?" asked Raph.

"We don't do that here. We're all like family." Shifu said.

"I bet they adopted you because you brought them some sympathy."

"No, that's not true. We adopted him because he needed a home and a loving family."

Raph scoffed and said, "Whatever. I'm just surprised that they didn't kill ya."

"Raphael! Stop it!" Splinter exclaimed.

"Why?"

"We have only been here all day and already, you are disrespecting this young panda after everything he has been through? One day, you might hurt this person and you cannot take anything you said back."

"Oh, sure."

"I can see where Tigress gets that arrogance from." Musaki muttered.

"I can hear you!" Tigress exclaimed.

"Your point being?"

She was looking for a fight, but she saw Shifu's face and sat down. She looked at him and said, "I'm watching you."

"And I'm watching you too." Raph said.

"You can't even watch over Mikey." Donny said.

"Please, you're not the boss of me."

"Are they always like this?" asked Zeke.

"Everyday."

"I feel sorry for you." Shifu said.

"It happens."

Splinter looked at Raph and Donny going at it and covered his face with embarassment, sighed heavily and said, "Kids..."

If you guys look at the ending where Splinter says 'Kids...', you might recognize that line from the first three live-action 'TMNT' movies from the '90s. Anyways, hope ya'll like it! Stick around for more!