I've only been in New York for a few weeks, and it already feels like home. I already have one friend, and her name is April O'Neil. Her pretty short orange hair and blue eyes are in contrast to my hazel eyes and long black hair. I met her when I was walking down the street. I bumped into her by accident. We started talking (after I apologized), and became fast friends. I have also been doing better in my ninjutsu training. Shredder says that I'm doing better than even Bradford. When he found he was so proud of me. That night, he told that he had a surprise for me. Hm, I wonder what he's up to? I thought. All my questions were answered when Bradford pulled up in front of a huge... Gate?! What the?! A gate! Why would my surprise be a giant gate?! Or it could be what's behind it... I hopped out of Bradford's car and stared up at the gate. "Hey Bradford, what behind this thing?" I asked suspiciously. "It's nothing but your surprise Kayla," he said, chuckling," It's funny how you can get so skeptical at times."

"Well you could at least open it," I snapped. He chuckled again, and handed me a piece of paper. "Gee, we're going to open this gate with a piece of paper. You really thought this through, didn't you Bradford," said sarcastically. "Oh come on Kayla. Its what's on the paper," Bradford said. I rolled my eyes and looked at the paper. Sure enough, there was a five digit code on it. I looked at the side of the gate, and saw one those little code machines. I walked up to it, and punched in the code. The door slowly slipped open, and what I saw nearly made my eyes bulge out of my head. Behind that gate was a slightly large building. It was smaller than the usual skyscrapers of New York, but it was still pretty big. "This WHOLE building is mine?!" I asked. Bradford nodded, "Yeah it used to be a small hotel, but it didn't get much business. So when I first saw it, I decided to fix it up and into a clubhouse for you." "Bradford I'm not five, I don't need a clubhouse. But I guess it could be a hideout of some sort," I said. He chuckled again, I don't get what's so hilarious I'm serious! I thought.

I walked up to the huge door of the building. I turned back to Bradford, "Um, isn't there some sort of key to this place, or does need a code too?" I asked. "Oh yeah, I forgot to give you your new key chain. It has the key to this place on it. Sorry," Bradford said, handing my key chain. The first key had a label that said Shredder and it was all black. I guessed that it was for me to get into Shredder's hideout. The second key was blue and had the word Bradford on it. Okay, this was to get into Bradford's gym. The next key was purple with my name on it. Bingo. I punched in the code, and slipped my key into the lock. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

My eyes felt like they were going to pop right out of their sockets. I was looking at a living room/mini theater. It had a huge flat screen T.V. and inside a closet, shelves were filled to the brim with movies. All of my movies that I had in Japan were here too. "Sweet! I could have friends over for movie night!" I squealed. "That's not even the best part," Bradford said. He led down the hall to a huge kitchen. It had new stuff everywhere. I loved to cook, but I was a little disappointed that this was the best part of this place. "So this it, right Bradford?" I asked. He shook his head, "Nope this isn't the best part. Why do want stop here?" "No way! I gotta see the rest of this place!" He chuckled. Again with all the chuckling I'm not even tryin to be funny! The next place was a huge library. All of the walls were fill with books.. Except for one. "Bradford, why is this one empty?" asked. "It's for new books you might want to add," he replied. I nodded.

We continued down the hall to a door that revealed two stairwells. "So up or down?" Bradford asked. "What do you think? Down!" I snapped. I was getting kinda tired of this. Why can't he just take me to look at this place instead of all the questions. We walked down the stairs into another hallway. I looked inside the first room that I saw. It looked as if three rooms had been combined to make a dojo. "Neat, I can practice new moves in here," I said. I walked down the hall until I saw another door. Two rooms were combined into... A game room. There was another flat screen T.V. and in another closet. Were game consoles and tons of videogames. So that's where they all went. I thought. There was another room to my right, and I opened the door. What I saw nearly made me fall over. It was an art studio! My dreams have come true! "This is the best surprise ever!" I screamed, hugging Bradford like there was no tomorrow (despite the fact that I hate hugs). "This isn't all of your surprise, Kayla," Bradford said. My eyes widened, and I raced up the stairs to discover more of this surprise.

The top floor had even more to love. I opened the first door I saw. It was a lab! I just loved science. It had every scientific tool you could imagine! I looked at another room down the hall. I zipped over to it, and opened the door. Please let this be what I think it is, I thought. It was! It was a music room! Music had to be my favorite thing in the whole world! I practically squeezed the life outta Bradford. I stared at all of the instruments before me, and I instantly wanted to play the guitar, "Thank you so much Bradford. This has to be the best day ever!" I squealed. "Aww! You aren't even going to look at you bedroom?" Bradford asked, pretending to be upset. "Well of course I'm going to look at it!" I said. I closed the door, and ran to the end of the hall. There was a purple door with my name on it. I took a huge deep breath, and opened the door. The walls were purple, blue, black, and white. In one corner, there was a bed with purple and blue sheets. On the other side, there was a black dresser and a white closet with new clothes inside. The walls also had neon colored music notes and stars decorations. I found a sliding door on one wall, and I opened it. It was a meditation room! It had a Japanese theme to it, and a katana rack on one wall. "Wow Bradford, It was almost as if you put my heart and soul into this place," I complemented. "No problem. I would do anything for you. I love you kiddo." he said. "I love you too." I said.

I woke up to my alarm clock blaring my favorite song. I stared at the clock. It was 6:30 a.m. "Well, it's time to go train with Bradford," I said. I walked over to my closet, and put on my armor. I strapped my katana to my back, and walked downstairs. It was still dark outside, perfect. I locked the door, and my gate, and headed out into the slowly awakening city. I looked at the piece of paper Bradford had given me. Turns out the gym was only down the street from the hideout. I walked until I saw the building with Bradford's name plastered across it. I walked inside and up to the dojo. Bradford was already there, fighting a dummy. I smirked, and took Bradford by surprise. I jumped on him and started attacking. "Hey!" he yelled. "Ninja sneak attack!" I yelled back. I somehow managed to pin Bradford down. Suddenly, his phone began to ring. He looked at it, "Well, what is it?" I asked. "It's from the Shredder. He says that he has a mission for us," Bradford replied. I nodded. This must be something about the Turtles, I thought. My earlier hunch about this 'friend' of Shredder was correct. The Turtles are the ninjas Master Splinter has been training. Apparently, the Shredder and Splinter have a fifteen year old vendetta that Shredder wants to finish.

A few minutes later Bradford and I pulled up in front of the Foot Clan's headquarters. As Bradford and I walked up the stairs to Shredder's 'office' I was wondering what the mission was going to be. What if he found a location? I thought. When we reached the top of the stairs, Bradford and I kneeled before the Shredder, "Master Shredder, what is the noble mission that you wish for us to do?" Bradford asked. Sorry, I couldn't hear you over all the sucking up sounds you were making Bradford, I thought. "I want for you and Kayla to go in search of the Turtles. As you know Splinter had betrayed me by taking the only one I've ever loved. Tang Shen. I need to finish what we had started over fifteen years ago. Blah Blah BLAH! Shredder seriously! You aren't even capable of loving! And why did you kill the one you 'loved' I thought. "I will have Bradford bring a small army of Foot Clan soldiers. Kayla, I need you to go alone for this mission," Shredder said, interrupting my thoughts. "Yes Master Shredder," we said. We bowed in respect before we left.

I was enjoying the beautiful day in Central Park. This is pretty much the only place in New York that has trees. I was sitting under a cherry blossom tree, writing in my song journal when I heard a surprisingly familiar voice. "Excuse me young lady but may I have word with you?" I looked up to see an old lady walking towards me. Wait a minute?! This lady looks a lot like... Me?! "Um... Sure," I said politely. I put my journal back in my bag, and looked up at this strange woman. "I have to tell you something... About your parents," she said. If I was drinking something, now would be a good time for a spit take. What the?! My parents who is this strange woman? And what does she know? "M-my birth parents?" I asked. She nodded, "Um, not to be rude, but who are you?" I asked. "My name is Asami. I am your grandmother, and I know the truth about your parents," she said. I nodded, taking it all in. So I have a long lost grandmother... Wait?! That means the Shredder lied to me about my parents I thought. "W-what h-happened to them," I asked. Asami had a sad look in her eyes, "A long time ago, the Shredder had supposedly killed Hamato Yoshi. Your parents were good friends of his. Many were. When they went to fight him, they were winning, but sadly Shredder had laid a trap. He burned them all in great fire. None of them survived," she said. Tears were brimming my eyes. She continued, "He came looking for you. When he found you, you were with me at my house. He only allowed to say your name, before he took you and burned down my house. I managed to escape, and I vowed to get you back one day. I watched grow from afar, and when I found out about this trip to New York, I knew that now was the time t tell you the truth. I had tears streaming down my face when she finished. All this time... Shredder was lying to me!

My sadness was quickly replaced by rage. How dare he kill my parents, and lied about it! He even made me apart of his no good ninjutsu army. "Asami I had a feeling that Shredder was evil this whole time. Is there any way that I can defeat him?" I asked. She nodded, "I understand that he is hunting for someone known as the Turtles, correct?" I nodded again, "Well if you want to defeat Shredder, maybe you should go talk to them," she said. "Okay, thank you Asami," I said as I got up, "Wait, I have something for you," Asami said, "Please take this, it will help you find your new family." She handed me a small doll. It had long black hair, a black dress, and tiny button eyes. "Thank you, but who is this new family?" I asked. "The ones who will help you," Asami replied, " And please call me grandmother." I gently put the doll in my bag, and bowed in respect to the only family I have left, "Thanks again, Grandmother," I called as I ran in the direction the Foot Clan Dormitory. I was beyond mad when I got there. Luckily, I didn't she Karai in the room that she and I shared. I grabbed my duffel bag, and began stuffing all of my clothes in it. Once I finished I grabbed my key chain, and walked to my hideout. I angrily punched in my code, and unlocked the door.

I trudged up the stairs to my room, dumping the duffel bag on the floor. I grabbed my phone, and dialed Bradford, "Hey Bradford, I'm going to live at the hideout from now on," I said, trying to maintain a happy mood, "Alright kiddo, are you still going on the mission tonight?" he asked, "Yeah, I'll see you tonight okay?" I said. "Okay, love ya kiddo," Bradford said, "I love you too," I hung up and went to sleep.