I'm glad this was a hit with some people and I'll continue it for you. Thanks to all who reviewed and gave this story a chance.
Leonardo
I was outside trying to clear my head with the ninjutsu book I borrowed from the library practicing some of the katas I was learning about. It's been really quiet between the four of us and I know exactly the reason why; it's because of what I said. But I don't know what else to do. I'm supposed to be the one who has all the answers to Don and Mikey's never-ending questions, but the one about us getting adopted is one I can't answer.
'Stop thinking about it already and focus!'
Okay Leo, deep breath, and get into position.
…inhale…
…exhale…
All of a sudden, I felt someone push me from behind and I fell to the ground with a loud gasp. I turned around to see Raph standing above me. "Some ninja you are Leo. I wasn't even tryin' to be quiet," he said to me. Great.
"What do you want Raph?" I said, getting up while rolling my eyes.
"Came to make sure your head was screwed back on Fearless. Or are you still thinkin' about ditchin' us?" Raph said in a deep voice. I let out a groan and looked up at the sky before facing him again.
"Not this again. I told you…" I started, but Raph interrupted with a bitter tone.
"You told me that we stick together no matter what and that we have to take care of our little brothers! That's what you've drilled in my head every single day since we were kids! 'No brother left behind, Raph! We never leave one of our own, Raph!' Now you wanna just say 'screw it,' and focus more on having two more people in our family. Oh, but since you're the great and all-mighty Leonardo Laird, you have to have this perfect little family who praises your every move. But you can't have your brothers in the picture too, or we might mess it all up for ya. So all that time you spent lecturing me was just because you felt like it?!" Raph asked me as I struggled to keep my composure.
"Do you seriously think I want to be separated from you and the others?! What other choice do we have?! How many times do we have to see Mikey cry because someone didn't want us?" I growled back.
"Mikey needs to grow up and learn life isn't all rainbows and butterflies! But that doesn't mean you tell him we shouldn't have a home together! You know how he and Donnie feel about that Leo!" Raph yelled.
"If you give me a chance to explain then maybe…!" I said clenching my fists together.
"No! I've about had it with you and your smug attitude!"
"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME, HOTHEAD!" I screamed at him while getting into a fighting stance.
"That is IT!" he shouted, and lunged at me. The two of us started to wrestle with each other rolling around on the ground. Raph had me pinned to the ground with our hands locked together before I spoke up.
"Since when did you start caring so much about our family Raph? Why did you stay all those times you threatened to run away!?" I asked him.
"Shut up!" he yelled at me, but I managed to get the upper hand, rolling back around and pinning his left arm behind him.
"Maybe if you'd stop and use that thing you call a brain, you'd understand why we have to do this," I said.
"Oh, I understand plenty, Fearless. You're justtoo much of a coward to take action! Instead, you just wanna wait around for years and years until someone decides to adopt all four of us while filling Mikey and Donnie's head with hope; only to crush it from beneath him! Well, hope ain't gonna get us out of here together. I'm done waiting around!" Raph screamed, and used his muscles and weight to his advantage knocking off my grip and tried to punch my face multiple times. Thanks to the jiujitsue classes that all four of us, me being the only one who actually pays attention to everything, and learning from the ninjutsu books, I blocked most of his punches.
"RAPHAEL! LEONARDO! ENOUGH!" I heard a voice, but I paid it no mind as I kicked Raph off of me before holding him in a chokehold.
"LEONARDO!" I heard the angry voice say, and looked up to see Ms. Adams with a red face trying to pry my arms off of Raph. I released my grip and somewhat tossed him to the ground. Ms. Adams then pushed Raph away from me and stepped in between the two of us before Raph could launch at me again.
"WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU TWO?!" she yelled.
"You've completely lost it Fearless! You know that?!" Raph continued to shout.
"Raphael, enough already. Go! Before I make you do all of everyone's chores for the next three months," she said still pushing Raph back. Raph face was now all red and I could see his knuckles were now as white as snowflakes. He shoved Ms. Adams's arms off of him and gave a loud howl before storming off down the street. Ms. Adams called for Raph to come back, I closed my eyes and practiced my deep breathing.
"Leonardo…" she started to say but I interrupted.
"He'll come back. You still have his pocket knife in your office," I said opening my eyes and looking at her.
"That's not what I was going to say. You need to work this out with the others," she said.
"None of them want to hear what I have to say. Why don't they understand that I don't want to do this either? I just want to make sure they have a chance to know what a home is," I said.
"Leo, you can think what you want, but this is your home too; at least for right now," she said.
"I know I know. Home is where we're all together, but good luck telling that to Mikey. That book of his means everything to him and it keeps raising his expectations. What if when we do find someone, it's not up to his expectations?" I said.
"You know how creative Mikey can be. I'll support whatever decision you all make, but not until I get an approval from all of you. Until then, nothing will change," she told me.
"Yes ma'am," I said.
An hour later
Raph still didn't come back yet as I lay on the window-sill leaning my head against the window staring outside and at my reflection. I heard someone trough up the stair and walk to where I was, but didn't head them any mind.
"Leonardo, I know this might not be the best of times, but there's a man here to see you," Ms. Adams told me. I just keep looking out the window at the city. "He said that he might be interested in adopting you and maybe even your brothers," she said and my eyes went wide as I spun around.
"Who?!" I demanded.
"His name is Oroku Saki. He's a well-educated man hailing from Japan and if you're interested, mentioned that he runs a dojo that teaches Ninjutsu," she said, showing a snarky smile and I let out a huge one right back at her.
"Are you serious?! All four of us?!" I asked trying to get more words out, but I was struggling to take a full breath from what I was hearing.
"That's one of the setbacks though. He's willing to take in all four of you, but he has to adopt only you first. He's downstairs in the meeting room right now filling out some paperwork if you want to talk to him more about it," she said. I pushed my lips into my mouth and looked back at my reflection in the window.
"I…I guess I can talk to him," I said after a minute.
"Are you sure? You don't seem like you want to," she said, seeing right through me.
"No, I….I mean I have to take this chance; for them," I said taking a large breath.
"Nothing's set in stone yet so if you don't like what you hear, then you can just say no," Ms. Adams said.
"I know. Thank you, Ms. Adams," I said, and she and I walked together downstairs to the living room. Sitting on the couch was a Japanese man with thick, black hair and green eyes. He wore a black suit with a red type and a bright smile as he stood up.
"Ah! This must be Leonardo. I am Oroku Saki," he said, bowing his head for a second before holding out a hand for me to shake which I did.
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Saki," I said.
"Well, I've reviewed your background and references Mr. Saki and everything checks out good there. I just have to go make some copies of your records sir and I'll be back momentarily. In the meantime you two can talk a little," she said.
"Very well," Mr. Saki said. "As long as that is alright with you, Leonardo," he said looking back at me, and I just gave a quick nod.
"Perfect, I'll be right back," she said winking at me, and left the room to make the copies back in the office near the front door.
"Come sit," Mr. Saki said, motioning the seat next to him, and with goose bumps appearing all over my arms, I went over and sat next to him on the couch. "Now then, Ms. Adams tells me that you are a smart young man and show a keen interest in the ancient art of ninjutsu, is that correct?" Mr. Saki said to me.
"Y-yes sir," I said.
"I see. As a matter of fact, I have mastered the ancient art myself and would be honored to take you in as my student if the process goes through smoothly," he said, and I swallowed a lump in my throat.
"The honor would be all mine Mr. Saki, but…I don't know if you should take me. You see, I have three little brothers that live here with me as well," I told him.
"Yes, Ms. Adams briefly mentioned them to me before. Unfortunately, as I told her, I am unable to take all three of them in right now. You must realize that I did not come here to take in four boys," he said and my heart sunk.
"I understand Mr. Saki," I said, trying to focus my attention on something other than him.
"But, that does not mean I am not interested. I will be willing to adopt all four of you but I must require time to prepare the…formalities. I have a daughter of my own you see and having you there as a start might help speed up the procession," he told me. Now he had my attention back at its fullest.
"I'd do anything, Mr. Saki," I said.
"Excellent. Now, why don't you tell me a little about yourself? I prefer to know everything about my future pupils." He said, and before I knew it, I was spilling my gut about everything; from school, to ninjutsu, and even about my brothers. It just felt so easy to talk to him and he listened with interest; almost like a real father. Then for the first time, I realized why Mikey wanted a mother and father so much. This was finally going to be the parent that my brothers and I had been dreaming of for years. Yes, we'll still be separated for a little while, but I just pictured in my head how good it would feel when all of us were together again, adopted by someone at last. I couldn't wait for that day to come at last.
And we will stop right there. Sounds like Leo and the others finally have a family of their own. What could possibly go wrong? Yes, I did go there. Next chapter we will find out how the others react to the news. Hope you enjoyed.
Don't forget to review!
LaurenHardy13