A/V: Hello hello my readers! It is time for a new story! Here we have a genetic mutation babe, Shiho. She's a character I created for roleplay a good 7 or 8 years ago, and she's my favorite girl. I was getting back into watching my lovely ninja turtles and thought, 'Hey, Shiho is a genetic experiment and essentially a mutant. Why not write a story!' So, here it is. For a reference of what my girl looks like, take a gander of a photo I photoshopped. . . I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

NOTICE: THIS STORY HAS OC CHARACTERS. IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE WHAT ANY OF THEM LOOK LIKE, PLEASE CHECK THE LINKS ON MY PROFILE FOR YOUR VISUAL AID.

Turtles. Ninja Turtles. Teenage mutant ninja turtles. Well, not so teenage anymore; New York's one and only mutant ninja team of brothers had long since grown up into skilled and deadly warriors. 24 years old, still living in secret with Splinter in the lairhidden away under the city near the Brooklyn bridge. Out of the four of them, the oldest, Leonardo was anxious for change and something new to happen not just to him, but to the entire family. They all seemed to have fallen into a daily routine which repeated itself day in and day out, they'd all become creatures of habit. The katana-wielding brother couldn't take another day of normalcy.

"Dude, what's up with Leo? He's been like…a silent movie zombie for days, bro?" Michelangelo chimed from behind the oldest two, Leonardo and Raphael, to Donatello. They had slipped out for a nightly rooftop run to get some fresh air into their lungs and some exercise in their legs. Donnie slowed a little to let the older two grow ahead in distance and came to a stop on the edge of one of the buildings with Mikey right beside him. He shrugged, unable to really understand whatever thoughts raced through Leo's mind.

"I dunno, he's been that way for a while. One thing's for sure, he better lighten up before Splinter lets him have it with the staff," Chuckling, the young turtles sprinted to catch up with Raph and Leo who came to rest on the ground between two warehouses in the river district.

"Hey, Donnie; think fast!" Mikey yelled and threw an empty soda can at his staffed brother. Faster than anyone could see, Donnie deflected the can with the end of his bow staff and knocked it right back to Mikey. 24 years old and still acting like a teenager. But that was the start of a brotherly brawl between all four of them, dodging kicks and punches, clashing weapons and throwing ninja stars.

"Really Raf, you ever gonna upgrade from those little steak knives to a real weapon?" Leo taunted the hot-head turtle as his katana collided with both of Raphael's twin sai weapons, the steel clinking and scraping together as they strained against each others strength. When he was younger, Raphael would have given in to his rotten temper and gone over the top in fighting with Leonardo, but since growing up he'd learned to harness his anger and turned it into brute strength and speed.

"Ah you're still using that old joke? Leo, time to get some new material, bro," Jumping onto a fire escape and flicking two stars at Leo, Raph leaped with his foot aimed right at Leo's chest. Dodging to the side, the blue wearing turtle grabbed his brother by the ankle and tossed him against the wall. Catching himself and landing without a sound, Raph sheathed his weapons into his belt and held up both hands.

"Alright, alright! No need to throw me, Leo. Come on guys, we need to get back. Casey and April said they were stopping by with grub," At the mention of food, Donnie and Mikey rubbed the shell over their bellies.

"Mmm, I'll bet April is making that lasagna stuff again. Hopefully she remembered to make one just for me," Mikey was such a pig, when he wasn't training or sleeping, he was eating. Leo chuckled and tightened the knot in his bandana after returning his katana to their respective places on the back of his shell.

"Don't be such a hog, Mikey. You can't be a ninja and be fat at the same time," The other two pointed and laughed at the youngest like the obnoxious brothers they really were. Their laughing died down when Leo suddenly jumped onto the fire escape and made his way up to the roof of one of the buildings before they had the chance to stop him. Exchanging glances with each other, the three on the ground shrugged and waited for a response from their leader.

"Guys! You better get up here, look!" Following suit and taking the same path he'd taken, the turtles joined Leo to where he was standing on the edge of the roof overlooking the row of warehouses on the docks.

"Woah! That place is totally like, Dante's Inferno!" Mikey joked; about a quarter mile away, an enormous warehouse was engulfed in flames and people were scrambling and screaming as they escaped. Leo found it odd that there were people in a warehouse this late at night and moved closer to investigate with his brothers close on his six. They all spread out and landed on different rooftops to observe, they all hesitated to jump down and help any of the humans because them being in the building at night was more odd than they were comfortable with.

Instantly, they all wondered if their old foe, The Shredder, was going to make one of his famous reappearances from the flames. No, they sent that guy into non-existence years before when he tried to erase all of the turtles in all of the alternate universes and dimensions. It couldn't be The Shredder. Leo signaled for them all to get low, there was someone coming out.

The building make a strange groaning sound as the flames climbed with the smoke into the sky. Leo had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next. He hated when his gut was right. "Get down!"

Just as he screamed at his brothers, the building burst into an explosion which sent them all onto their shells. Leo grunted and crawled on his knees to look down below. "Leo, look!" Raf shouted, and pointed to the ground to see a single girl stumbling from the flames. He clenched his teeth and gave the signal for them all to jump down as she started to collapse. This wasn't exactly what Leo had in mind when he wanted something exciting to happen.

"Woah…Donnie are you seeing this?" They all reached for their weapons as they gathered around the strange female. She was dressed in what appeared to be a long white nightgown that was stained black and grey in places from the smoke and fire.

"Seeing, yes. Believing? Not so much. How can this be?" All four of them were in absolute awe at the sight before them. Whoever she was, she was just as unusual as they all were with tall burnt orange ears with the tips shrouded in black, a long tail growing from the small of her back. It looked like a fox tail. "What the…" Donnie started when she opened her eyes, bright and luminescent, they glowed a radiating violet.

"T-…turtles?" She squeaked before succumbing to the smoke she had breathed in and slumped over. Before she could hit the ground with her head, Leo was quick to catch her in his arms and lifted her up against his chest. She weighed almost nothing and was absolutely placid in his grip. The other three looked to Leo for an answer, the growing heat from the flames and the stares of his brothers weighed heavily on his decision making.

"Let's go," Before he could say anything else, Leonardo dashed off towards home with his brothers quickly behind him.

"Leo! Are you serious?!"

"What do you want me to do, Raphael? Just leave her there?" Donnie and Mikey knew exactly where this was going and went on ahead. This was going to be another fight between the brothers and they didn't want to be involved.

"Uh, yeah. Look at her! What is she?!" Looking at the girl in his arms, the ninja gulped. She looked human at first, but those ears and tail…hell even those eyes of hers screamed something mutated. He stood in silence to go over this in his head, trying his best to be the leader that Splinter expected him to be. "Leo!"

"I don't know! All I know is, she's probably hurt and we're the only ones who can help her."

"What if she's dangerous? You don't know what she is or what she's capable of. Use your head, Leonardo," A hideous glare pierced Raphael through his shell from Leo's masked eyes. The last thing he needed was his brother telling him he was being reckless, that was rich. Raphael scolding Leonardo after all the danger his temper had gotten the entire family into in the past.

"We're taking her back, Raph. We can only find out what she is if she tells us," Leo never left Raphael the chance to have the last word, he tuned to leave and get back home before anyone came out after hearing them shout at each other. "If we don't help her, no one else will…"

Whoever she was…whatever she was, Leo wasn't going to just let her lie in front of a burning and collapsing building and leave her to die. What kind of leader would he be if he didn't extend the hand of help to those who were obviously weak and incapable of getting away? Splinter would be furious, he knew that, but he'd also understand much like he did when they had rescued April for the first time.

The entire way home, Raphael was riding Leonardo's ass about this mystery girl. Raph hated the way his brother always had to act like he was some knight in shining armor to make up for the fact that he's a 6 foot ninja turtle. Whoever she was, Raph felt a lingering danger that resided somewhere inside her. He couldn't judge on appearances alone, that would be hypocritical, but he just could not put to rest the immense unease he felt.

"Oh Master Splinter! Leo's brought home another pet that he wants to keep!" Mikey shouted once Leo walked in the door, rousing the rat from his meditation with a frustrated sigh. The master never had any peace when one of them did something they weren't supposed to, all of them always tried to get one another in some sense of trouble.

"Shut up, Michelangelo, it's not like that!" Leo snorted. He stopped when he was greeted by his father and mentor with a very displeased expression on his aged face. A pang of instant regret climbed his throat and he gulped it down and shifted the creature in his arms so he wouldn't drop her. Splinter's stare did not falter as he studied his son and his energy for a moment, trying to understand what he was thinking when he brought her home.

"Leonardo, I expect an explanation, my son."

"She crawled out of a burning warehouse and collapsed on the ground. The building was coming down, I couldn't just leave her there to be crushed and burned to death. I will accept whatever punishment you deem necessary, Master," Clasping his paws around the top of his staff, the rat tapped it on the stone ground a few times in thought. His aged, brown eyes studied the strange female in his son's arms as she began to stir and groan.

"Your decision was not thought over, but, she appears to be injured. We will keep her here until she regains her strength, but she cannot stay. I fear great conflict will arise if she makes this her home," Leo's eyes darted to the floor as he shifted his weight uncomfortably. Splinter gave his son a silent nod and went with him to lie the girl down and attend to whatever wounds she might have sustained. The conversation the other three had in front of the tv was a busy one.

"What do you think she is, Don?"

"I'm not sure, Raph. She's not human, that's for sure, even though she looks it. I've never seen a creature like that before; it's safe to say we've seen our fair share of crazy things," Crossing his legs and leaning back against the ouch, he and Raphael kept their eyes glued to the screen, Mikey on the floor in front of them with one of his comic books.

"Maybe Leo thinks she's a babe, because she totally is. OW!" The back of his head was assaulted with the remote and he whipped around to see who threw it. Both Don and Raph looked away innocently, neither of them admitting to the crime. "What?! Have you seen her?"

"Shut up, Mikey. What's a girl like that gonna see in things like us anyway? Hey Donnie, do you think maybe she'd let you study her; figure out what she is I mean," Dark green shoulders shrugged.

"Dunno, guess we'll have to wait until she wakes up. In the mean time, we'll let Leo and Splinter deal with her. April and Casey should be here soon with grub,"

It hadn't been much longer before their companions from the streets joined the turtles in their humble abode with, just as they promised, food. April was always a girl of her word, especially when she was feeding four turtles who never seemed to get full. They were a bunch of bottomless pits who could eat her out of home if she let them. Casey on the other hand, he was closer with Raphael than the others. Both contained tempers that were forces to be reckoned with and spent a majority of their time sparring with each other.

"Man, April. You sure do know how to feed a turtle," Mikey belched loud enough to make an echo as he settled into the couch with a three fingered hand rubbing his belly. April came through and made a lasagna just for the orange fellow, she'd be spared the whining and complaining from his brothers of him eating off their plates.

"Yeah, you're welcome. Where's Leo? I haven't seen him at all," April was busy, elbow deep in the sink washing all of the dishes. She was joined by her favorite rat in New York who assisted with the drying, he always felt guilty for the laziness of his sons. It was something he just could never break them out of, doing chores. Drying a plate between his paws with a dish towel, the mentor spoke up.

"It seems he is preoccupied tonight. They found a strange woman by the docks and brought her home. He is at her bedside now waiting for her to wake up," Scrubbing one of the glasses, April nodded. Leo always was the guardian type of the four, when any one of his brothers became sick or injured, he was one who never left their side until they recovered. It was probably April's favorite quality about her mutant buddy, though she was now curious as to who this new stranger was.

"Strange woman, huh? You don't think she could be dangerous do you?"

"I cannot say for sure. She has a strange scent about her, one that I cannot quite understand enough to make a decision. Like I told my sons, we will see when she wakes up,"

In the silence of his room, Leo sat at his desk in his old wooden chair with a book in his hand. His eyes busily read the paragraphs, but he wasn't paying enough attention to the words to absorb the story; he was too focused on the sleeping fox woman. Studying the lines of her ears and body to the bushy tail that wrapped around her. Her hair was long and a deep auburn brown but her bangs are what he perceived as the strangest part of her. The strands were violet, like her eyes were, down to the roots like it was the natural shade of her hair. Leo couldn't wrap his mind around her and closed his book to flip over the cold washcloth on her forehead.

"Mmn…" The momentary brush of his fingers against her heated skin roused her from her state of unconsciousness and uneasily opened her eyelids. Leo froze in place, hovering over her with the rag in his hand. Her eyes lost that bright glow from before and were instead a pale shade of violet, a band of silver wrapping itself around her irises. Blurry at first, her vision fought to find focus as the fuzzy image of Leonardo became clear. A turtle, a giant turtle. "HAH! What—Where am I?!"

Jumping from under the blankets, the fox woman jumped to her feet on the mattress and banged against the wall, knocking objects and books all over the place as she scrambled into the corner. Leo panicked and held up both of his hands to get her to calm down, needless to say it made her worse. "AH! You have three fingers! Who are you?! What do you want?! Let me go, let me go!"

"Hey, hey! EASY! Jeez, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm the one who saved you from being crushed and burned to death from that building that you came out of," Her little chest heaved with quick and fevered breaths. The commotion of things falling and crashing around in his room got the attention of Leo's family and brought them all upstairs, Casey and April in tow.

"Oh she's awake, awesome! I'm Mikey,"

"AHH! There's more of you! What ARE you?!" Jumping, she smashed her head against one of Leo's bookshelves and landed on her butt on the bed. The jarring must have knocked the hype out of her and relaxed her at least somewhat, because she was quiet. Finally. Annoyed, Raphael pushed ahead of his brothers to get a good look at her. The turtle being that close to her made those tall ears flatten and press tightly against her head and for her to bare her teeth.

"Woah! She's got like, wolf teeth! OW!"

"Hush, Michelangelo, she is frightened. Raphael, back away," It was true however, her canines were longer than most and appeared to be dangerously sharp. Donnie's interest was even more piqued, growing more as the moments flew by. He just had to study this creature. "Please, forgive my sons and their rudeness. It has been some time since we have come across anyone as unique as you are."

"Unique as me? Have you SEEN yourselves? What is this? Another laboratory? I won't be part of anymore experiments, you hear me!? No more!" Her eyes were wild with fear and panic as she pressed against the wall as much as she could, trying to make herself small. Splinter, the calmest of them all, tapped his staff on the floor for them all to leave and wait outside. He didn't want to frighten this creature any more than she already was. Raphael grunted and left first, Casey right behind him, he couldn't be in a room with someone who almost called him a freak when she looked like one herself. He had to get out.

"Please, let me explain. You are in no danger here, Miss uh…"

"Sh-…Shiho. My name is Shiho," With his eyes, the rat asked to sit on the bed beside the fox-like creature. With a slow nod, Splinter sat and took a heavy breath.

"Shiho. My sons and I are not your enemy, we are a family that dwells in shadow." Like he had to with everyone that came across the turtles, Splinter told the story of their origin and strange appearances. His gentle voice and nature brought down the defenses of the fox creature until she was relaxed and holding onto Leonardo's pillow.

"How do you think it's going in there?"

"Dunno, Leo. You've been listening the entire time, you should know," Donnie said as he passed by. Leo had been still as a statue outside of the room, trying hard to listen to her reaction. "I'll be in my room if you want me," and Donnie disappeared.

"Leonardo, I know you are there, come inside my son, it is alright now," Damn it, he'd been caught. Entering his room, he was pleased to see that the creature was on her feet and actually alright. She wasn't much taller than April, standing at probably 5'4", but she was fragile looking, like she hadn't eaten in days. Her skin was a light shade of tan and she was barefoot. "Meet Miss Shiho. This is my oldest son, Leonardo,"

"Nice to see you awake. I'm sorry if I scared you before, but I couldn't just leave you there," Shiho would have to get used to giant talking turtles, despite how strange it was. Splinter sensed an ease between the fox and the turtle at last, he took this as his cue to retire for the night to his meditation room and patting his son on the arm as he left.

"It's uh…it's okay. I've just never seen anyone quite like you before. I know I don't exactly look normal myself, that's a long story," There was a lick of a Spanish accent in her voice that Leo found most peculiar, it added a spice to her that he hadn't expected out of her. Violet optics flashed under long, butterfly lashes as she looked at Leo from head to toe…toe toes. This was going to take a while.

"Maybe we should get you some clothes from April. Is that all you have to wear?" The turtle pointed to her bedraggled night gown which she took a moment to look down and observe. Wow, the fabric was filthy and torn.

"Yeah. It's all they ever gave me…" They? Who was 'they', Leo pondered. There was so much about this girl that he was desperate to find out about. But, judging by how uneasy she was feeling, he'd take the time to figure her out at another time. Right now, he had to help her as much as he could. What Leo couldn't know was just how much Shiho could change his boring life, but, was he prepared?

Could Leonardo handle what this girl was going to bring to the table? He couldn't say for sure, but the mystery alone of her presence had him absolutely captivated. Leo wanted something exciting, that was exactly what he got, and then some. There was no telling what Shiho could do and what she could change about him, but Leo was determined to find out just what this girl was all about.

"Hey, Leonardo?" The delicate creature spoke softly as he was showing her around they lair in which he and his family lived. He was busy telling her about The Shredder and the Purple Dragons and how they'd been the biggest pains in the ass the last few years. To his comfort, she could say for certain she had no allegiance with The Shredder or the Dragons.

"Hm?" He'd taken her back to his room so she could rest more.

"You're a good guy, right?" The gorgeous fox was climbing back under the covers and settling in for the night. It'd been a long day, and she hadn't explained quite yet who or what she was to him, but he imagined she would in good time.

"Well yeah. I'm always the good guy. What about you?"

"I don't always know. I don't wanna become friends with you and then mess it up, I always do." Leo wondered what that could have meant, she was such an enormous mystery.

"Just go to sleep will ya? We can figure out friends and foes tomorrow. April will stop by with clothes and we'll sort things out," Against the wall, the fox snuggled under the blanket but started to panic when Leo had made his way towards the door.

"Wait! Don't leave!" The ninja stopped just before leaving, turning and facing her in confusion. Shiho's hand was outstretched and her slender fingers reached out towards him in a way that beckoned for him to come back. "I've slept alone every night of my life, please don't make me go through another by myself,"

Yep. Definitely different she was. Exhaling slowly, Leo removed his belts, pads, and katanas for the night and set them on the desk the way he did every night. Due to his size, his bed was big enough for four people, a king sized Casey called it, but she cowered and barely took up any space. The moment he sat down, the tension in her body released and she scooted closer.

"How old are you, Shiho? Makes me curious as to exactly how many nights you've been alone," Leo settled on his flat shell with a pillow in his arms, looking right at her. The room had grown dark with only one candle lit on his bedside table. In the darkness, her eyes glowed once again.

"I'm 23…" Shiho answered quietly which made Leo almost regret asking. Damn, 23 years alone every night, he couldn't imagine just how painfully lonely that must have been for her. "I know this is stupid, and you probably feel strange. But I can't help it, it's my nature to become attached."

"No it's fine, Shiho. I'm not going to hate you over something like this. Hm, you can stay in here if you'd like. Raph snores, Mikey talks in his sleep, and Donnie well…I don't know if Donnie ever sleeps. He's always up on his computer doing something," If she was that terrified of being alone, Leo wouldn't let it happen. It was his job to protect the weak after all, he could sacrifice the space in his bed if it meant she would have a peace of mind. Yawning wide and curling her long, luscious tail around her hips, the fox shut those luminescent hues and drifted.

"Thanks," Leonardo gulped before blowing out the candle. It was strange having someone who wasn't one of his brothers asleep beside him, someone who was an absolute babe like Shiho made him nervous. The thought of them being of a different species had entered his busy mind, but the comfort he felt silenced that thought. The more pressing matter on his mind, was figuring out everything he could about her and avoid the teasing of his brothers. Oh if Mikey could see him now, he'd never hear the end of it.

A/N: So! Enter Shiho! Yes, you guessed it, Leo is my favorite and I've had the weird hots for the damn turtle. I don't understand it, it's weird. So, she's being paired with Leo. I will explain her story in the next chapter, I'm hoping I have as much success with this story as I did with my Four Brothers fic. Here goes nothin'! Read and Review please!