Ninja Turtles 1. New Sons

**Author's Note: A different take on the origins of the New York Hamato family.**

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><p>Hamato Yoshi slowly pried his eyes open. He sat up and memories flooded back to him. He had followed a strange man into an alley where he met two others who looked exactly like him, stepped on a rat, and was attacked. During the fight the canister of glowing, green ooze one had been holding broke, covering Yoshi in the strange substance. Horrible pain had consumed him as his body broke and changed. He has passed out after realizing he had mutated into a giant rat.<p>

"Subject is awake."

He turned at the sound of the voice to see a group of people in lab coats watching him. His blood ran cold as he realized he was in a cage, like at the zoo, in a science lab. He was here as a specimen to be studied and most likely experimented on. He knew talking would most likely make it even worse, so he stayed quiet, playing the part of an animal.

A sharp pain in his left arm then made itself known. Looking down he saw a sluggishly bleeding cut and realized he must have cut himself on the broken glass on the canister. He mentally cringed but gave in to his new instincts and began licking the cut. It would make it more believable that he was just a huge rat, rather than a rat looking human.

"Subject shows natural rat behavior. Perhaps it was simply mutated bigger, it's build becoming more human, as well," said a female scientist.

Yoshi watched them out of the corner of his eye. At last he was satisfied with his wound and put his arm down. He looked at the scientists, his ears twitching with curiosity.

"Bring the four new turtles. We have so many of those, that four won't be missed."

Turtles? Missed? What did they plan to do with turtles?

A small hatch opened, and four turtles tumbled into his cage. To his shock, they began crying like babies. He slowly made his way over to them, his posture one of cautious curiosity. The turtles were humanoid! Mutated like he was!

The smallest one, who had freckles on his cheeks, opened big tearful, baby blue eyes. His gaze found Yoshi. The rat looked at the others. One had a lightning shaped chip on his shell and bright green eyes. The biggest had brown eyes. The last had blue eyes a shade or two darker than the freckled one. Yoshi leaned down to sniff chipped one and was rewarded with a smack right to his nose. He jumped, startled at the bravery and temper the little one. His answer was the roll the turtle onto his back so he couldn't move and sniffing the others, who were much more friendly.

"The rat does not appear to be interested in consuming them."

His blood ran cold. They wanted him to _eat_ the turtles?!

He gazed down at the babies then nosed the chipped one back onto his stomach and herd all four over the nest he has woken on. He take care of them, not eat them. Nicknames were in order, as well.

The smallest one, who was utterly adorable with his freckles, baby blue eyes, and happy smile was simply nicknamed Freckles. The green eyed one was Hothead, which Yoshi mentally chuckled at. The brown eyed one was Curious, because he could see the curiosity always in the dark eyes. The darker blue eyed one was a little harder to name. He seemed to be a bit of a leader, so that became his name.

"Subject appears to have adopted the turtles. Lets see where this goes. Bring food for them all."

He let himself feel a bit of relief. At least they hadn't taken the babies away from him since he hadn't eaten them. Food came through the hatch, meat for him and fruits for the turtles. He brought the food over and watched the babies eat their food at incredible speed, while he ate at more normal rate. As he licked the last remnants of the meat from his paws/hands, he felt a tug at his fur.

Looking down he encountered the food covered face of little Freckles. He looked at the others. They all had food on their faces. A bath was in order. This was going to be fun. Not.

He pulled Freckles into his paws/hands, the baby giggling as he did so. He found himself smiling, despite himself, and began licking the turtle clean. Surprisingly, the act of bathing the baby like this felt natural and soothing. Freckles giggled the whole time until his new father released him. Yoshi watched his new son toddled over to nestle against his side.

He reached out and caught Hothead. The green eyed the baby fought him, refusing to be bathed. Losing his patience, Yoshi nipped his arm. Hothead froze then began crying, though Yoshi knew he wasn't hurt. The baby was surprised more than anything. He continued the bath, the repetitive licks soothing the turtle as the rat paid a little extra attention to where he had nipped his new son. Once satisfied, he let Hothead join Freckles.

Now it was Curious' turn. In a way he was as challenging as Hothead but for a different reason. He continually grabbed Yoshi's muzzle, whiskers, and beard, The baby even grabbed his tongue at one point. Finally he stopped the bath and waited for the turtle to finish his examination of his new father. Once Curious was finished Yoshi returned to bathing him. Finally finishing, he let Curious join his brother.

He was startled when Leader crawled into his hold. He understood what Yoshi wanted having watched his three brothers receive their baths. Yoshi smiled and began to bathe him. Leader giggled as he washed the baby's little feet. He, like Freckles, was easy to bathe, and he soon joined his brothers, snuggled against Yoshi's warm, furry side. Yoshi curled around them as they fell asleep. He lay his head down on his paws/hands and fell asleep as well. Perhaps, once he escaped, he could start over with his new sons somewhere safe.

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><p><strong>End Note: Chapter One, Yoshi gets the boys. The scientists will not play very big roles in the story. Please review.<strong>


	2. Playtime and a Fight

**Author's Note: Chapter Two.**

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><p>Yoshi woke to something poking him in the nose. As he breathed in he became aware of a familiar scent. A moment later his waking brain supplied him with 'turtle' and 'Hothead'. He slowly opened his eyes. Sure enough little Hothead was sitting right in front of his nose, now tugging at his whiskers. Green eyes found his own, and the baby became still, obviously waiting for his father to move.<p>

Smiling to himself, Yoshi licked the little one from abdomen to his tiny face. Hothead fell over, started. Yoshi rolled him back over, stood up, and stretched. Seeing he was now awake, the other three toddled over, receiving morning licks themselves. Giggling, Freckles clamped onto his muzzle. The rat shook his head a little, freeing himself. The other three grabbed him as well. Yoshi nudged them, realizing they simply wanted to play.

The rat flopped over and let the babies climb on him, occasionally catching one in his paws to nuzzle them and make them giggle by licking or nuzzling their tiny feet. What a sight they must make; a mutant rat over six feet playing with four baby mutant turtles. Yoshi found himself already falling in love with them. His heart felt lighter than it had since the loss of Tang Shen and Miwa. Destiny had brought him to New York. Destiny had mutated him. Destiny had led him here where he had been given his new sons.

Freckles jumped smack onto his face, startling him and nearly taking out his eyes. Yoshi pried the giggling turtle off his face and made a soft growling sound. Surprisingly, the baby seemed to understand he was being scolded and stopped giggling. He nuzzled the baby and set him back down with his brothers, catching up Leader in his paws. The baby smiled and giggled as Yoshi licked and nuzzled his tiny feet.

At last Yoshi rolled back over, sending the babies tumbling to the ground in a giggling heap. Their attention was caught by food being dropped down the hatch. Once the babies had eaten their fill, Yoshi finished the leftover fruit along with his meat. Seeing his sons were content to play with each other, he decided to look around their enclosure.

It went to a high ceiling. He joking called it a cathedral ceiling. There were a few trees, a lot of grass, and a pond of fresh water for them to drink and swim in, deep enough for even Yoshi to have to swim since he couldn't stand on two legs since they were being watched. There was even a den near where the babies were playing.

Yoshi moved the nest into the den, the babies now following him. He brought them to the pond, where they paddled around happily. He watched them swim, enjoying the soft grass he was laying on. Leader climbed onto a rock in the middle of the pond and began crying upon finding he couldn't get back down. Yoshi paddled out to him, thinking how like a baby bear his son was. He could climb up but needed help getting down. He plucked the baby up in his mouth and set him back down in the water.

He returned shore and discovered a downside to be a rat; wet fur. He shook himself off as much as he could but resorted to grooming himself. In doing so he discovered he was incredibly flexible, like a cat, able to twist in ways a human couldn't. Finally he finished grooming himself. He wasn't dry, but he was much drier than before. He stretched out to air-dry, listening to the splashes, giggles, and other happy sounds of the baby turtles.

His ears twitched as he heard something fall down the hatch. He didn't bother looking, though. Judging by the dull 'thud' it was possibly some sort of animal toy. His sharp hearing picked up a soft rasping sound, which was almost too quiet even for his rat hearing. He didn't know what it was, but it sent a shiver down his spine. What would the scientist put in here that could move on its own? He cursed the fact that there was no breeze to bring a scent to him. His instincts were telling him not to turn around, not take his eyes off his sons.

Then he heard it. A hissing. Now he knew what was in here, and it sent a thrill of fear through him, both for his sons and a natural fear from his rat instincts. Slowly, ever so slowly, he turned towards the sound and nearly screamed. Entering the water, heading for his sons, was snake. It wasn't just any snake. It was a twelve foot long python. They wanted to see how he would react to the natural's natural predator. Every rat instinct screamed at him to run, but his parental instincts were stronger.

He squealed loudly, and the babies wasted no time in paddling towards their father. Their tiny arms and legs weren't moving them fast enough. The snake was closing in, it's mouth opening to snatch up Hothead. Yoshi flew at the snake with what could only be described as a shriek. With an almighty 'splash', he landed on the snake, taking it underwater.

The babies huddled on the shore, crying as the water churned from the two struggling underwater. Yoshi clawed wildly at the reptile, taking out its eyes. However, the python could move easier in the water than he could and wrapped around him, squeezing him, crushing him. Yoshi could feel his bones about to give way, all his ribs bruising and about to break, and bit down viciously on the coil, biting through the scales and into the muscle. The snake released him, and he wasted no time in clamping onto it's neck. He managed to drag it the opposite shore where he began shaking it and slamming it's head onto the stone, biting down harder and harder every second.

At last the snake had stopped moving. Yoshi dropped and stood panting. He became aware of the taste of blood and proceed to plunge his head back into the water, trying to rinse out his mouth. Once he had gotten his mouth clean he hurried over to the babies and curled around them, nuzzling and licking them as they cried into his soaked fur.

Two men came in through the door the hatch was connected to. One had a catch pole, and before Yoshi could react, the loop was around his neck and pulled tight. Though he knew they just wanted to remove the dead snake, he fought against his holder until he was released and hissed and growled at the man until he disappeared behind the door. He soothed his frightened sons once more then set about grooming himself again. He hoped the scientists were satisfied by the fight, because he didn't ever want to do it again.

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><p><strong>End Note: Chapter Two, we get a bit of playtime and a fight with a python. Don't mess with papa rat. Please review.<strong>


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Ninja Turtles, Family