For those of you who were confused when Midori knew Hamato Yoshi, all will be revealed...in this chapter! Review please!

Ch. 11-My name…is Hamato Raphael

That night's patrol proved to be uneventful. Leonardo was not happy when Raphael was late, but at least it was only by a couple of minutes. Following the patrol, Raph had seemed more like his real self and less like the morose and brooding creature they'd been living with the past couple of days. He was a little more at ease tonight, which gave his brothers considerable consolation.

"Man, I can't wait to get home!" Michelangelo exclaimed as they bounded over the rooftops. Raphael laughed and his three other brothers couldn't help but smile, it had been so long since Raph had laughed they'd nearly forgotten what it sounded like.

The red-masked turtle wacked his little brother on the back of the head with a loud FWAP, another action Raph hadn't been taking part in lately. "You goofball!" Raph tackled Mikey into a headlock. "Say it!"

"Aw, Raph…."

"Say it!"

"Okay, okay. Raphael is all wise and powerful…"

"And?"

Mikey giggled, overjoyed that his older brother was acting like his old self again. Leo and Donnie watched with smiles so big that their faces might have cracked. It's so nice to see Raphael back in such good spirits, Leo thought.

When Michelangelo didn't continue Raphael began tickling him which made him laugh even harder. "Raph! Hahahaha! S-Stop it! Sssssstop it! HAHahahaha! Raph! Please! Uncle! Uncle!"

"Not until you say it!" The hothead insisted.

"Aw Raph!" The second-eldest smirked and only moved his hands to tickle his little brother's sides mercilessly. "Hahaha! Alright! Okay!"

"Say it!" Raphael insisted.

"And—hahaha—and he's better, haha, better than me in every-hehe-every possible way."

The eldest smiled as he interjected, "Okay Raph, that's enough. Any more and Mikey's going to explode."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Raph stated, making Donatello snicker.

"Raph." Leo chided lightly.

The red-masked turtle rolled his eyes. "Alright. Geez Fearless, always have to spoil my fun."

"It's what you appreciate most about me." The blue-masked turtle quipped playfully.

"Yeah, yeah, in your dreams Fearless."

Leonardo shook his head with a grin and a sigh. "I'll never understand why you insist on calling me that."

"Because you are." The eldest turtle stared at his younger brother in awe. Raphael… Leonardo was shocked beyond all capability to speak. Raph admires me that much?! He thinks that I'm…but I'm not. I never have been and I never will be.

"Raph—I'm not…"

"You are to me." He whispered quietly.

Mikey and Donnie stared in shocked amazement, their jaws dropped. Michelangelo recovered first and immediately bounded up to his red-clad brother with a smile and a smirk. "What am I to you, Raphie?"

Raph snarled at the hated nickname before he smirked mischievously. "Yur exactly what I call you Mikey. A Goofball."

"Aw." The youngest replied crestfallen.

"Don't sweat it, kid. You'll always be my littlest brother Mikey. Just like Don will always be the brainiac and the genius."

"Aw, but I don't even get a good nickname," he pouted.

Raphael rolled his eyes and Leonardo watched as he moved towards their younger brother. "Mikey, you may not have a great nickname, but I can guarantee that you are and always will be my favorite Goofball."

"Really?" Little happy tears filled the corner of Mikey's baby blue eyes as he stared at his hotheaded brother. His eyes sparkled and glittered with happiness that warmed Raph's heart.

"Yes Mikey."

"Aw! I love you bro!" Mikey exclaimed practically bowling Raphael over as he ran into him, engulfing him into a full on hug.

Leo and Donnie chuckled at the sight. Donnie added, "You do realize he's not going to let go, right?"

"He better." Raph replied, though his tone was unthreatening.

"Come on guys, lets head on home." The eldest stated.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up." Raph said, all three of his brothers glancing up hesitantly. "I'll be fine. Go on."

Finally after much deliberation, Leo nodded. When they let Raph leave a little early for patrol he had rejoined them acting like his old self again. Letting him out again would probably help preserve his good mood, refusing to let him out would probably spoil it. "Alright, two hours maximum Raphael, any longer than that and I'll come up and get you. Understood?"

"Yes mom." Raph said rolling his eyes at me as he jumped away.

"Call us if anything happens!" I yelled after him, but he had already gone.

Raphael's POV

I was glad that Leo had decided to let me go. Midori had mentioned that she had some other Foot to beat tonight and I wanted to make sure that she got home alright. For some reason the thought of her being in danger had constantly returned to my mind while we were on patrol and I just couldn't stand it. I landed outside of her window with a very quiet thud. I peered in the window and was surprised to see a big man, probably six four or six five. He was burly and extremely muscular. I may not know who he is but I do know one thing: I definitely don't like the look of him. He appeared to be going through Midori's things and I had to fight the urge to jump in there and attack him. The man reached down to look under the bed and the sleeve of his t-shirt rose just a bit revealing a strange tattoo on his shoulder. That looks like…

All of a sudden Midori entered the room and any thoughts I had previously been engaged with were no longer important as I strained my ear to hear their conversation.

"Uncle Ryuu? What are you doing?" I growled. This creep was her uncle?!

The man turned to her with a fake smile plastered on his face. "Ah! Midori! I was just looking for an old sword I gave your mother. I was hoping that you might have it. It was a family heirloom."

"Oh. I'm sorry uncle, but she never gave it to me. Perhaps you should go through the things at the old apartment. Though it isn't exactly safe there…"

"Ah, but I don't have to worry about such things my dear. We are both quite capable of taking care of ourselves aren't we?" he asked brushing her chin gently with the back of his hand. I don't care if he's her uncle or not, I want him to get away from her. Especially if that tattoo on his arm is what I think it is.

"Yes Uncle."

"Alright then, thanks for your help little one. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Uncle Ryuu."

After the creep had left I tapped gently on the window. Midori looked up and saw me, staring with a slight look of questioning and surprise. She closed the door and opened the window, motioning for me to come inside.

"Raphael what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. You said you were going to take down a couple foot patrols and I just wanted to…"

She smiled sweetly at me, "To make sure I was alright?"

"Yeah, that." I answered.

"Thanks Raph, that's sweet of you." Midori leaned up and kissed me on the cheek. I swear my cheeks must have been as red as my mask.

I ignored my burning cheeks and hurriedly changed the subject. "So that was your uncle?" she nodded and I growled lowly, "I don't like him. He's…suspicious." I stated my arms crossed, one foot tapping impatiently.

Midori laughed, "Oh, Raph! Uncle Ryuu is the sweetest man in the world! He'd do anything for me!"

I frowned. "Well if he ever does something weird like this again call me okay? That tattoo on his arm makes me nervous. I feel like I've seen it somewhere before. And it wasn't in a positive context."

"Tattoo? Where? What tattoo?"

"His right shoulder, it's really small. The only reason I even noticed it was because the sleeve of his t-shirt went up a little when he bent over. I was trying to place where I'd seen it before when you walked in."

"I'll ask him about it." She said, taking a seat on the bed, her expression thoughtful. Her honey-colored eyes widened in realization as she remembered something, "Oh! Raph! I've been meaning to ask you!"

I looked up at her with a raised eye-ridge. Midori jumped off to the bed and yanked out her black duffle bag. She opened it hurriedly and began digging through it hurriedly. What in the world is she up to? "Ask me what?" I asked watching with an amused expression as she began throwing the bag's contents all over the room, obviously searching for something.

"Who were those shadows?"

I tensed, not prepared for that question. Does she mean…?

"The ones that threw the shuriken at the Footbots that night at the docks."

Yep she did. But what am I supposed to tell her? If I tell her the truth, Leo will kick my ass. But lie? To her? Strangely I found myself reluctant to do that. But telling her the truth could also drag her deeper into the conflict, and the same thing goes for my brothers. Well, I'm still not going to lie to her.

"M, I'd love to tell you, but please believe me when I say that I can't. If you knew their true identity it could put you in grave danger."

"Please, Raph, I have to know. And if you mean that by knowing their identity I could end up getting dragged into the Hamato Yoshi and Oroku Saki conflict, trust me when I say that I already am."

All I could do was stare. HOW-? My green eyes narrowed and I tensed, "How much do you know about Hamato Yoshi?" I asked warily.

Midori's eyebrows furrowed at my sudden change in demeanor, which only made me more nervous. I had thought that because she was an enemy of the Foot, she was on our side…but is it possible that now, after all this time, she could turn out to be an enemy? My hands edged towards my sai, shaking. I don't want to do this…I don't want to fight her…

"Raph! What are you doing?!"

"Are you an enemy of the Hamato clan?"

"What?" She stared at me with surprise, her golden eyes shining. "No! No, not at all! My father saved Hamato Yoshi's life. Its Oroku Saki that I'm after."

Now it was my turn to stare. "What do you mean your father saved Hamato Yoshi?"

She sat back down on the bed, giving up the futile search for whatever-it-was. She patted the spot beside her and I paused. Should I trust her? If her father really did save Master Splinter's life…then I can trust her, I want to trust her. But would that be wise? What would Leo do? Leo would sit with her. He's a sucker when it comes to girls. Oh well, if it works for Leo…

I plopped down beside her and she began to explain.

"You remember how I told you that my father saved the life of one of Shredder's enemies?" I nodded. "Well that was Hamato Yoshi."

"You see, my mother, Hikari was raised with Hamato Yoshi and they were like siblings. When my father and mother fell in love, most of the village disapproved because it was a somewhat ill-placed match. But Hamato Yoshi was one of the few who supported their marriage and helped them get started. Then, dark times came and Oroku Saki broke away, claiming that he was going to restore his clan to its former glory. My father and mother lived in the first village that he took control over and my father was one of the many men to swear allegiance to him, thinking it to be nothing more than a family feud. My father, Yamamoto Kenji believed that the conflict would be settled and all would be peaceful again within the month. However, Saki lead an armed raid on Hamato Yoshi's village, killing his wife and taking his child. My father disapproved. And when the man that had been closer to him than a brother, who had welcomed him into the family, despite his low social status and position, Hamato Yoshi was lying before him on the ground, trussed up, arms and legs bound, he could no longer carry out Shredder's orders. Yoshi was ordered dead, and my father was to be the executioner. It was Saki's way of testing his loyalty." I stared up at her in terror. Master Splinter had never told us about any of this!

"Yamamoto Kenji was no longer able to carry out Shredder's wishes. He whispered to Hamato Yoshi, 'When I say run, run.' My father brought down his katana, but instead of dealing a fatal blow, he cut Yoshi's bonds. His last words as he charged the Foot were, 'Run, my Brother! Run!'" She went silent. I was staring at the floor of her room trying to absorb the entirety of what I had just heard. "My mother always called Hamato Yoshi brother, you see. She once told me, when I was younger, that someday the Hamato clan would have to help us avenge my father's life. She told me that all her life, no matter what had happened, or where she was, she could always count on Hamato Yoshi. That's why I have to find him. The time has come to take back what has been taken." Her honey-suckle eyes glinted and sparkled magnificently in the dim, moonlight room.

"You don't need to." I stated, brining my neon green gaze up to meet her golden ones. She raised an eyebrow at me. I said nothing, but stood, heading for the window. I stopped just in front of it and turned back around. "You've got the next best thing." Wow, that didn't sound conceited at all. I fought the urge to face-palm at my stupidity.

Midori rolled her eyes. "Thanks, but I think a ninja master on my side will be more beneficial than a teenage turtle-ninja."

"Ninja turtle, and that isn't what I meant."

She raised an eyebrow again.

"My name…is Hamato Raphael." I jumped out the window over the fire escape and straight down into the alleyway. Leaving Midori staring after me in astonishment.