A Turtle That Was Hidden (TMNT Book 2)

Naomi and Splinter

Later that day, Naomi appeared from her room and not any of the entrances. She seemed more calm somehow. But without warning, she grabbed my shell and dragged me and Sophie into the dojo.

“Hey, hey, hey!” I struggled. “You could at least ask!”

Naomi shook her head. “You wouldn’t have wanted to.”

“I would’ve!” Sophie said.

“It seemed fun to drag you for once.” Naomi explained. She dropped us and walked a little farther off before turning around on her heel. “Now, we are going to train whether you two like it or not.”

“Alright.” I said. “In pairs or all together?”

“All together.” Naomi smiled. “I’ll be your guys target.”

We both nodded and began to get our weapons out, but Naomi shook her head. “No weapons this time.”

“What?” Sophie and I exclaimed.

“I mean it. What if you loose your weapons like we did when fighting Shredder?”

Sophie and I looked at one another and shrugged, tossing our weapons against the wall as to not get hurt. Then we slowly began advancing on Naomi.

Her blue eyes dug into us and then she jumped to the side as Sophie lunged for her and cried out, “Look at me, I’m a target!”

That made us both pause and look at each other. I looked at Naomi and said, “Do what?”

Naomi shook her head then stood up straight, crossing her arms. “You should really never underestimate me.”

“But why cry that out?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I got it off this show…”

“What show’s that?” Sophie asked.

“It’s called ‘Who’s the Doctor?’” Naomi replied. “It’s very entertaining.”

“Couldn’t tell.” Sophie said sarcastically.

That’s when Mii-wa came in with Splinter behind her. That was a first. Splinter following Mii-wa instead of the other way around. I noticed that Splinter was looking at Naomi.

Mii-wa cleared her throat. “Naomi, Splinter would like to see you in combat.”

I looked at Naomi as her eyes lightened up a little. “Of course.”

“But you will fight Splinter.” Mii-wa continued.

Sophie’s jaw dropped and then went out of the room. I looked at Splinter and back at Naomi shocked. She can’t seriously be thinking about fighting the boys’ Sensei?

Naomi bowed in respect. “I will take the challenge.”

Classic Naomi. Always trying to take her skills to the next level. Sophie cam in with the boys. Raph and Leo seemed eager to see the fight while Donnie looked a little nervous and Mikey just looking like he always did.

Mii-wa and the rest of us stepped back to allow them room. Naomi didn’t get her staff out, which was a little surprising. Splinter got into a stance that seemed very much like he usually was, his hands behind his back and always looking focused.

Naomi on the other hand had her usual battle stance with one arm looking like it was going to punch and the other looking like it was for blocking some invisible force. Her blue eyes seemed trouble and yet focused behind her black bandana.

Without warning, Mii-wa spoke up, “Hajame!”

Naomi took a side step without any reason for it, but I understood as Splinter leaped up at her, trying to unbalance her with his tail. With a front flip, she avoided another whap with his tail. Her hands hit the floor but before she could start spinning, Splinter took her feet and tossed her in the air, kicking her away.

She flew threw the air toward the tree which she caught a branch and then let go, landing on the ground with on leg out, the other bent and one arm parallel to her splayed leg and the other on the ground to maintain her balance. Splinter turned to face her.

Neither made a move. They just stared at each other before Naomi jumped into the air, front flipping and landing behind Splinter, flipping around with her leg out to trip him. Splinter jumped so lightly that it looked like he didn’t even jump. Then Naomi rolled away as Splinter tried to take her down.

This was a good fight, I must admit, but was Naomi good enough to at least keep Splinter down for at least a second?

Splinter took his stance back into play as Naomi stood up. She stared at Splinter then grew a little confused like he was playing with her mind. Then without warning, Splinter ran up and grabbed Naomi’s shoulders, throwing her a little in the air before he gave her repeated punches across her stomach.

She was sent flying into a wall. Gravity pulled her down and she sat there.

“Oop,” I muttered. “Gravity works.”

“Yamae!” Mii-wa yelled.

Naomi looked up and groaned, getting up and walking over to Splinter. She spoke in a low voice to him. He nodded and she bowed in respect then turned to leave.

Raph came up to her and said, “Are you crazy?”

Looking up, she smirked, “Have you not known me?”

I came up, “Why couldn’t you just read his mind?”

“I was,” Naomi snapped. “But then he began to flip the images around so I couldn’t know what to expect. And I knew what he was doing to me.”

“And that is?” Leo came up behind me.

“To learn to not grow dependant of my skill. I couldn’t read Shredder’s mind, so he tried to make me confused to make it seem like I was fighting Shredder.”

“And you got all this how?” I asked.

“I read his mind when it came back to the usual.” Naomi smiled. “But he’s right.”

Everyone was silent as she walked past. She had a little limp to her, but I ignored it, knowing that she’d be fine in the morning, but it was strange because she’d been limping since that night when she ran in, explaining that she had been looking for us…

What is going on with her?