7: Shredder

The Healer

*Haha means mother

*Dōitashimashite means your welcome

The Turtles decided to trust the boy. The only reason they did was because their brother turned as sick as a dog. He was rendered unconscious as we began to move again. Raphael refuses to let his brother go. He is carrying him clear to a cottage on the side of the path.

The boy says his name is Chainin. He says his mother will take care of Leonardo. His mother is a healer.

The group is anxious. Donatello and April O'Neil whisper and look back to check on the fallen turtle. The younger walks silently. The black haired boy walks alongside Raphael, repeatedly asking to take Leonardo. The red-clad turtle merely glares and continues walking.

The cottage is small, make of stone. An amazing structure for something so small. It is surrounded by trees. A young woman stands surrounded by bushes. Flowers bloom. Cherry blossoms in fact. Her kimono is a silky white with a black obi. Her hair is in a bun, clipped together by one red needle and one blue needle.

"Haha, Haha," young Chainin calls, running to the woman," Another Suide fell in. And guess what? He's a Hamato!"

The woman stands straight. With a thump, I find myself falling on my back. My heart feels like it is torn from my chest. The black haired boy, Casey Jones, I think is his name, stands over me. He picks me up while I hear April say," Is that… Tang Shen?"

I watch as the exact replica of Tang Shen walks to Raphael.

This cannot be the woman I once loved. It can't be!

She puts her hand on Leonardo's forehead, and then looks at Raphael. "Your brother was injected with an enormous amount of poison. He is very ill. Come. I must eject the poison. Immediately."

The woman leads us in. Casey follows behind me in case I fall. I can feel his glower.

Inside, I stare at her, trying to decipher if she's an illusion or not. Leonardo is laid on a table. He is paler than a normal Suide, and barley breathes. I sit back in a wood chair.

"Ma'am," Michelangelo says," What was that horse thing that tried to eat my brother?"

"A Shimera," doppelgänger Tang Shen says," Shimera's feed on the Suides death force."

"Death Force?" April asks.

"Yes. The Death Force is the Suides will to die. I can feel your brother's is strong. He's almost a shattered soul. The Shimera knew this."

Leonardo's friends glance at each other. Tang Shen lifts Leonardo's arm," I will extract the poison. This will be painful."

Raphael scoffs as he grabs his brothers hand," Right. I guess I'll be his hand holder for his pain."

With that, Tang Shen lifts a white tube and pressed it to Leonardo's open wound after removing the bandages. Leonardo groans, and then starts kicking. His face shines with sweat.

"It hurtin' yet, Raph," Casey calls to him.

"No," Raphael replies," his grip isn't that tight at-"

"AAAAHHHH!" the two brothers start screaming. Raphael crumbles next to Leonardo, eyes wide.

"RAPH!" Leonardo howls while Raphael screams, "MAKE HIM LET GO!"

"RAPH! RAPH! MAKE IT STOP!"

"We just need to breathe, Leo. We need to BREATHE!"

After two minutes of screaming, the poison exits Leonardo's body. His veins turn back to normal from being black. The white tube turns a greenish black with the venom. The boy relaxes.

"There," Tang Shen breathes," Done. Your brother will be fine."

The Turtles take a deep breath. "Mikey," Raphael says," next time… you're holding Leo's hand."

"Thank you, Ma'am, for healing our brother. How could we repay you?" Donatello says.

"No payment required, darling," Tang Shen smiles," But I do wish to know your names."

Michelangelo smiles," I'm Michelangelo. That's Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo. We're the Hamato brothers!"

Tang Shen looks at Raphael and Leonardo, whispering their names.

Michelangelo continues, "Over there is April, Casey, and –"

"Oroku Saki." I intervene.

Tang Shen nods," Tang Shen."

I knew it.

Once Leonardo is sitting up, Chainin comes to his side. "Sir, what does those cuts on your wrists and arms mean? The letters?"

Leonardo looks at the letters, then holds out a wrist," This stands for Mikey… Donnie…Ice Cream Kittie… Spike…" He points to each letter as he goes. He looks at me then back down as if looking for my reaction.

"Ice Cream Kittie," Michelangelo whispers.

"Spike," Raphael says, eyes lingering on the S.

Leonardo moves to the next wrist," And these stand for April…Casey…and Raph."

"Whoa," Chainin mutters, feeling the scars. Raphael grabs a wrist again, feels the R, then shoves it away from himself.

"I don't want to be a part of your wrist," he growls.

"I never asked you to be," Leonardo hisses under his breath.

"If you seven are going to Three Crossing, you better get some sleep. No one can tell how busy it will be." Shen says.

"That where we're going, Donnie," Leonardo asks. Donatello nods." Okay, I guess we'll stay here for a couple of hours than. Thank you for your generosity." Leonardo says to Shen.

"Dōitashimashite," Tang Shen replies, then grabs Chainin to leave to room. I watch her as she leaves.

"Are we really gonna stay here," Raphael growls.

"Yes, Raph," Leonardo growls back," Now I suggest you get comfortable. As Tang Shen said, Three Crossing is a hectic place."

"She never said hectic," Raphael argues.

By now, I decide I'm over the Turtles. Let them deal with each other.

For the record, I knew one of those Turtles would turn out to be suicidal. Yoshi had to raise one of them to be.

As I doze off, I see visions of my brother. My big brother who was a lot like Raphael.

His name was Oroku Nagi.

A/N: And there's chapter seven. There had to be one chapter with Saki's perspective. Hope you enjoyed it. And for a hint, you better keep all these small characters in mind. Just saying.