I've been toying with this plot bunny for some time, and now I am finally attempting it. Sorry for the long intro. TMNT are the property of Mirage. Jun, the jounin, Naoto, Yuuto, Asuka and Buta/Daichi are my O.C.s

Bragging Rights

"My ancestors were among the First.

"My line on both sides stretches back to the beginnings of ninjutsu; to

Koka, Shiga, with no tainting of the blood. Indeed, my ancestors on both sides were among the ninja of Koka, and brought much destruction to the army of General Ashikaga Yoshihisa, and victory to their lord Rokkaku Masayori.

"As times changed and centuries passed, many of our family joined other clans. By the Tokugawa period, my ancestors had joined a clan that would still be operating well into the future: the Foot!

"Even after the War, our clan has remained unbroken; our family has remained loyal.

"Even after moving to this-- this-- City of gaijin-- we have remained unchanged.

"My father is chief among the Mistress's warriors; his position in the Foot is secure. He is a REAL Grand master.

"HE, unlike Jinichi Kawakami, is truly "The last living modern ninja."

"(Despite what other sources may say, the Banke Shinobinoden family is NOT the only family in the world that has the right to claim authentic Ninjutsu roots-- but I digress)

"My mother is Kunochi-- naturally. The Mistress relies on her. Her trust in my mother is not misplaced.

"I have mastered the eighteen disciplines of ninjutsu skills which were first stated in the scrolls of Togakure-ryu. I have advanced at a quicker pace than the other members of my group.

"I am ninja."

The Jounin looked at Jun as if he'd grown another head.

"You will clean the toilets just like the others," he finally said to the defiant-looking youth. "You will clean the toilets just like your father and mother and every ancestor on both sides of your 'pure blood' family cleaned the toilets. You will clean the toilets now."

Jun bowed as haughtily as he dared, picked up the bucket and brush, and reluctantly went to work, carefully muttering "gaijin" under his breath once the Jounin left.

Naoto, Yuuto, and Asuka stifled laughter as their teammate haughtily got to work.

"Cheer up, Jun-san," Yuuto smiled as he finished up yet another toilet. "We've done most of them. You only have to do the one at the end."

Jun, pushing open the door of the stall as if he were entering the dwelling of an enemy, reeled back in disgust. The toilet was near to overflowing with waste. Paper, feces, and God knows what clogged the drain. The seat was stained and disgusting. Even the outside of the bowl was filthy.

"Oh, yeah," Yuuto added, as the laughs of Asuka and Naoto began to echo around the communal bathroom. "That's the one Buta-senpai prefers."

Jun, nose wrinkled, mouth pulled into a tight grimace of repulsion, did not even deign to waste any of his best retorts on his team. They were just jealous, he reminded himself yet again, jealous of his family, his skills, his--

"Hey! When are you gonna finish the job, kohai?" came the booming grunt of "Buta"-- real name Daichi, but referred to by the team as "Pig" (though never to his face, despite the boasting promises of Jun to do so one day). "You four have been in here long enough to build another bathroom."

He was huge in both height and weight; he looked more like a sumo than a ninja, yet there was no denying his skills-- he was only a year older than Jun and yet had advanced further than anyone would have suspected of such a large, plodding, stupid-looking--

"Hey! Are you deaf as well as lazy?" his harsh voice snorted again, looming over Jun. "When are you going to finish the job? I had a big meal earlier, and I need some private time in here."

Jun was aware that he was being watched by his team. Yet he could not bring himself to express his brilliantly witty opinions on the needs of Buta.

Grabbing the plunger, he went to work, heedless of the disgusting mess he was making. Indeed, he welcomed the cries of his team and the piggy protests of Buta as the floor became the catchall while Jun unclogged that toilet within an inch of its life.

"You little brat, if it weren't for the fact that I'm on duty, I'd shove you headfirst into that shitter!" Buta, dancing back out of the way of the spreading filth, threatened. He was frantically examining his outfit, making sure nothing had soiled him. The Mistress had a sensitive nose as well as a critical eye, and she demanded that her ninja be undetectable in every sense.

"Daichi!" the shout of his leader called the ninja away before Jun or the others could respond.

"I'd like to see him try," Jun uselessly threatened. "I'd like to see him make the attempt to follow through on that little promise. He'd be pulling my fist out of his piggy face!"

Asuka rolled her eyes.

"We'd be pulling your head out of the toilet," she responded, gathering her own cleaning supplies and leaving the bathroom, the others following behind, laughing yet again at their teammate.

Jun sullenly cleaned the mess, muttering about some people's jealousy...

During training he worked well with his team, as required, but he refused to speak to them. This was not lost on them or their Jounin, especially when it came to sparring. Jun attacked his team members as if they were his most hated enemies-- and was beat by each of them. His anger only grew with each defeat, until he snapped, throwing the bokken across the room with such force that it cracked when it hit the wall.

"Jun!" the Jounin shouted. "Kneel!"

From habit rather than obedience he dropped to his knees. The adrenaline rush of losing his temper was heady, but as his angry breathing began to slow, he felt the flush of shame on his face. He knew that he had shamed his father and mother-- and himself.

But it had felt good!

The Jounin continued to watch him in silence, considering.

"What is it that you want?"

Jun looked up suddenly.

"I want to prove myself! I am tired of this-- this-- childhood!" he gestured around the dojo. "We are treated like beginners. I've mastered so many lessons! I've advanced in my studies past the other three, yet we are not allowed to test our skills on the enemy! We merely train-- and clean toilets."

"What makes you think that you are ready?"

Jun, still kneeling, drew himself up.

"I just know I am."

The Jounin continued to study Jun as if he were a new species of fool.

The silence was growing uncomfortable. The others watched, waited--

Then something seemed to flash in the Jounin's eyes, something that caused Asuka to nudge the other two, trying to draw their attention to it.

By then, they all could see a sort of smile-- a SMILE-- play across the lips of their leader.

"Very well, Jun," he said slowly. "Very well. Have you heard of a counting coup?"

Jun shook his head, forgetting himself. The Jounin ignored it for the moment.

"Among the Native Americans of the Great Plains," the Jounin began, gesturing to the other three to join their team member on the floor for the lesson, "there was a battle practice called 'Counting coup'. It was a nonviolent demonstration of bravery."

Jun looked as if he were about to interrupt. Who cared about this? Other than the gaijin Jounin-- he suddenly caught the stern look he was receiving, and panicked briefly, wondering if he'd muttered this thought under his breath.

"It involved touching an enemy warrior with either the hand or a coup stick, then running away unharmed. Sometimes the warrior would steal something from the enemy as further proof of his skill and fearlessness. There was always the risk of injury or death, but the successful warrior earned the respect of his tribe. The warrior recorded his coups by carving notches in the coup stick. I have one, handed down to me by my great-grandfather-- who was a gaijin--" this he said, stressing the word to let Jun know that his rudeness was not missed by the leader, "-- as well as a member of the Lakota."

He sat down on the mat, his eyes still on Jun.

"You know of the Turtles," he said, and Jun's eyes suddenly lit up. "You know of their skill. You wish to prove yourself. Very well. I will give you a chance. You will find one of the turtles-- the one called 'Donatello'-- and you will--"

"Relieve him of his head! Yes! I shall kill him for the Mistress!" Jun immedately was lost in visions of holding up the head by it's mask, caked in the blood of the reptile, and humbly accepting the gratitude and praise of Mistress Karai as his parents looked on proudly...

"You will not kill him. You will find him and touch him with my great-grandfather's coup stick."

Rising, he gestured for the team to follow him to his private quarters, where he took from a trunk a stick about forty-five inches in length, decorated with notches, feathers, and thongs. At one end was what appeared to be the claw of an eagle or a hawk. He carefully handed this treasured item to Jun, a steely look in his eyes.

"You will touch this to the turtle, and then escape with your team. They will bear witness to your success, as well as benefit from the demonstration of your vast skills."

Jun, holding the stick, wanted to rebel-- this was stupid! Touch the turtle? He could KILL the turtle, kill one of the hated enemy of his Mistress!

Then he saw the other three watching him. They were being sent to spy on him. Jun was not stupid.

Very well-- let them spy! They would indeed learn just how skilled Jun was, just how far ahead of them he truly was!

"Arigatou gozaimasu," he said, bowing deeply to his leader. "I will not fail."

I will KILL this Donatello he mentally promised. I will kill him with this very stick!

ooooOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOOOoooooo

Don sorted through the huge treasure piles of junk, cheerfully humming some tuneless song, mind working on three different projects. It was a beautiful night for such work, and despite Mike's constant hints about returning home before his favorite movie came on, he was finding much he could use.

"C'mooooon," Michelangelo whined, shifting from one foot to the other. "I'm tired of this."

"You promised."

"Yeah, but I didn't promise to spend all night at it."

"Baby."

"I am NOT a baby!" Mike pouted, lower lip jutting out. "I'm just not into all this re-recycling."

Silence. For like maybe ten seconds.

"Dooooooooooonieeeeeeeeee..."

"Five more minutes."

"You've said that three times already. That's like... fifteen minutes! And you want to make it twenty?"

More silence.

"Don!"

From the dark shadows of the huge piles of junk, the foursome watched as the one tried to wheedle his brother into going home "before 'Lost' is canceled."

"Well, Jun, this is your chance to show your inferior teammates how skilled you are," Naoto whispered.

"I am anxious to see you put your mastery of Shinobi Gaeshi," Yuuto managed to say seriously, though his face betrayed his real emotions.

Asuka said nothing. But Jun suspected that she, too, thought he was going to fail.

Well they'd all be surprised when he not only killed this Donatello, but his whining brother as well!

Turtles... prepare to join your dishonorable ancestors...

He slid from shadow to shadow, eyes on both turtles. The one called Michelangelo had given up and was slouched in the seat of the vehicle that the other was loading items into. From the faint rhythmic thumping of a hand upon a plastron, Jun surmised that the turtle was listening to music-- the fact that he couldn't hear it further indicated that the fool was wearing earphones!

Pathetic! Jun would not kill him-- better to kill Donatello and leave Michelangelo to discover the headless body!

Meanwhile, he approached the unsuspecting brainy turtle, who had just managed to lift a particularly bulky and heavy something from the huge mountain before him. The noise of displaced clutter masked the stealthy approach. Jun, drawing the sword he'd secretly brought along, got into position.

The turtle suspected nothing.

Without a sound, Jun struck!