Cold of Winter

By: darke wulf

Disclaimer: Unless you don't recognize them, I don't own them. No money or other profits are being made from this attempt at entertainment.

Fair warning, this is going to be an Alternate Universe fic. It takes place not too long after the 2007 CGI movie, but the Shredder is still alive and well and in charge of the Foot. Other details of the original timeline may or may not also be altered as I go along.

Also, for the purpose of my world the ages of the Turtles are Leo, Raph, Don then Mikey (from eldest to youngest). Personally, I just find Leo and Raph being the two eldest makes the most sense based on personalities and the interactions between the Turtles.

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"Without having experienced the cold of winter, one cannot appreciate the warmth of spring."

~ Chinese Proverb

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Oroku Saki absently took in the shifting lights below as he gazed out over the city from his office high above in the Foot Headquarters Building. An untouched cup of green tea sat cooling on his desk next to the reports he had just finished reviewing. All the lights in the room had been turned off, leaving him with a view unhindered by reflections on the thin glass panes that separated him from the outside.

He sat behind his desk, his back to the room, elbows poised on the armrests of his chair while his chin rested in the cradle of his entwined fingers. His relaxed posture was in stark contrast to his rapidly moving thoughts as he analyzed his latest defeat at the hands of those loathsome turtles of the Hamato Clan.

He had actually been surprised to discover that the turtles had been the ones to foil the Foot's most recent heist. It had been nearly two years since the group of them had last intruded in his business. It had been a welcome respite. Not to say that the Foot had been without adversaries. Between the local and federal authorities, who had been showing a closer interest in his activities since the fiasco that had destroyed the original Foot Headquarters, and Raphael's Nightwatcher persona, a delicate approach had been required for his latest plan, but things had been proceeding quite well until the previous night.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the loss itself that he was contemplating, but the analysis of the fight that had been provided by the two members of his elite whom he had placed in charge of the task. They had reported a strange tension between the turtles, which had Saki intrigued. While there was always friction between the two eldest, from what his elite had said it appeared that this time it was Donatello that was the source of the disturbance.

If it hadn't been his elite who had reported this, Saki would not have believed it. Even coming from his most reliable, he was having trouble imagining that Donatello, the pacifist of the Clan who had always seemed content to stand in the shadows of his brothers, was apparently now at odds with them.

Not that the Shredder would blame him if he was; Saki had only ever had contempt for the turtle who had so much potential and yet continuously let himself be dominated by his brothers. He hadn't bothered with the turtle after determining that the fool, while obviously intellectually superior, apparently had no real ambition beyond helping his Clan. Unlike Leonardo and Raphael, Donatello had no apparent anger, brash pride, or insecurities to use against him, and so Saki had dismissed him from his mind and concentrated his psychological attacks on the two eldest whom he deemed more vulnerable to them.

But now…if what he had been told was true, it could create a plethora of opportunities. If Donatello was finally tiring of his inglorious position in the Hamato Clan, if he could be turned from said Clan and convinced to join the Foot…while not one for overdramatizing events, Saki could not prevent the smirk that graced his face as the prospects unfolded before his mind's eye.

Not that he expected Donatello to turn from his family without certain…persuasive efforts…on his part; he understood his enemies far better than that. He was confident, however, that if a rift did exist he would be able to use it to his advantage.

He was getting ahead of himself, though. To this point, his only had vague reports of an apparent friction between Donatello and the other turtles. It could turn out to be only a small disagreement, something that would be resolved by the next time his warriors encountered them.

On the other hand…

Oh, the possibilities…