Turtlefreak121: I must be experiencing a Hirosaka-plot-bunny explosion. (shrugs) Not that that's bad or anything... But here's some important info: Hirosaka is the adopted younger brother of the turtles and wears a gray mask. This is his first Easter with his family so this puts him at two years old. Umm... That's about it... Happy early Easter!

Hunting Babbits

By Turtlefreak121

Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT - Hirosaka is mine.

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"Whut's Essner?" the young gray-banded turtle asked as his older brother flipped through yet another channel. The two-year-old blinked curiously as the older 'version' of himself yawned and leaned back into the broken down couch that they had been meaning to get rid of for months now.

Raphael eye shifted to his left were the youngling was leaning against his side sleepily. He smirked at how cute his little brother was when his jaw was working its hinges at fifty-five miles per hour rate. As he relaxed some more, he crossed his right leg over his right knee and returned his focus to the tube. The red-clad mutant then rubbed the closed part of his mask where his left eye had once been.

"Easter's when big ol' Peter Cottontail comes 'round 'n gives treats to lil' kids like you and Mikey," he said with a laugh at his own joke.

"Like Sana?" the little turtle inquired curiously as he slowly began to shut his eyes under the lights shinning from the TV.

"Sorta - Peter's a bunny, though - 'n he usually gives ya chocolates and eggs..."

Hirosaka blinked before looking up at his big brother. He was still getting used to all of these holidays since he was adopted and first introduced to such joys. Still, this one seemed...odd...

"Bummy?" he questioned.

Luckily for Raph, as soon as he changed it to Cartoon Network, Buggs popped up. He grinned.

"Yeah, like Buggs Bunny - there..." he stated as he brought Hiro's attention to the screen.

The youngling turtle blinked before looking at Raph with an arched eye ridge. "But Dons says dats a...babbit..." he stated in confusion.

"Well... Rabbits and bunnies are da same t'ing, basically..." Raph tried to explain.

Hiro shook his head stubbornly. "Babbits aren't bummies..." the two-year-old said in a 'that's-final' tone.

Rolling his eye, Raph rubbed his baby brother's head. "Sure t'ing, Hiro... So what's Peter 'den?"

Biting his lip, Hiro rolled his silver eyes into the back of his head as if to search for the answer in front of his brain. "Uhh... Mr. Cottontails iz uh babbit - dats what Dons calls 'em!"

"So I've heard..." Raph said as he rolled his eye yet again.

"Whuts he do?" the turtle asked curiously again.

"I told ya - he gives ya chocolate 'n eggs," Raph said with more patience than any of his other brothers would ever receive from him.

"I don'ts likes eggs - me likes oats, member, Raph? Will Mr. Cottontails givez me oats 'n not eggs? Please?" the youngling stated as a new found adrenaline ran through his body.

The turtle gave his little brother a look of slight annoyance. "He'll give ya what he wants ta give ya 'n dats it..." he stated as he thought back to what the family had already pulled together to give the youngling.

Disappointed, Hiro frowned and slowly slid himself off the couch before walking around Raph's legs and heading towards the center of the lair where LeatherHead and Don's 'office area' was.

Raph leaned back so he could gain a better range of vision for his functioning eye and watched as Hirosaka made his way towards the laboratory. He knew immediately who Don would blame if Hiro got into anything.

"Kid, where ya goin'?" Raph asked.

"See Dons bout babbits!" he informed his brother before continuing.

Shrugging, Raph turned back to the television and clicked the power button to turn on the 'wonder machine'. He snorted at Hiro's adventurous mind. "Kids..." he stated to himself. “He’s gonna cause me to be as bad as Leo b'fore I turn twenty!"

Donatello looked at the strange activity in the blood sample. Lately, he had been experimenting with samples of his baby brother's blood to compare it to the rest of them. There was something about the way the mutagen had developed around each individual microorganism in Hiro's bloodstream that had perplexed him for weeks.

At first, all this had been to make sure that Hirosaka was able to accept a blood transfusion from any of them - the results were amazing as each of their own blood samples had been immediately absorbed by Hirosaka's blood - this also included Master Splinter and even LeatherHead! He had begun to believe that Hiro was actually mutated by a more advanced mutagen than their own, but it seemed like something more.

Maybe this was a link to Hirosaka's mysterious past. Hiro's past had been bugging Don ever since their first 'adventure' with their brother had ended. Still, he was no closer to tying loose ends of the many questions than he was to finding them...

"Dons?" a timid voice came from around one of the many desks supporting more equipment than the purple-clad turtle could shake a stick at.

Smiling, Don turned around and faced his baby brother. He bent over and placed his hands on his knees and looked at Hiro kindly. "Howdy, Hiro!" he said softly. "How are you doing?"

The gray masked turtle merely smiled in return - being around the lab always made Hiro nervous, though he had been getting better.

Seeing this wasn't working, Don walked back over to his high-definition microscope and turned it off. "What do I owe this visit to, lil' bro?" he attempted to strike up conversation.

Hiro looked down to his feet and began to shift them. "Who's Essner Babbit?" he asked - he really meant 'what', but his eyes were caught by the glint of one of the scaples and his voice had become shaky.

Don laughed to himself - he was worried for a second that Hiro might have wanted to ask a more serious question like when he asked why his four older brothers always came home bloodied and hurt. Hiro had a hard time adjusting to the idea of anyone being hurt.

This was an easier task.

"Which one?" he asked back.

In complete confusion, Hiro looked to his older brother and blinked. "Whut mean?" he asked critically.

"There are two," Don explained as he recalled to the song. "Peter or Cottontail - they're both the Easter Babb- I mean, rabbit," he caught himself.

The little turtle slowly turned around and started back to the television room - his mind was whirling in confusion.

Don turned around as he heart the little turtle's footsteps walk away from him. He shrugged and turned around. "Probably tired..." he muttered to himself before turning the microscope's light on again and taking another look at the blood samples.

Once he reached the television area, Hirosaka didn't even bother to go all the way around the couch. Instead, he stopped halfway around the arm rest his red masked brother was leaning on. His little fingers curled around the arm rest's cushion as he looked up to his nineteen-year-old brother.

"Who's Cottontail?" he asked.

"No, no - it's Peter Cottontail..." Raph explained without taking his gaze from the television.

The turtle blinked and fell down into a sitting position where he folded his arms and glared in the distance so he could think. Was there two Essner Babbits - Peter and Cottontail - like Don said or was there one - Mr. Peter Cottontail - like Raph said.

"Whens Essner?" he asked Raph.

"Well, tomorrow - why?" As Raph turned to face the youngling, he discovered that the turtle tot was off yet again. He shrugged and sat back down.

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Mikey yawned as he walked through the darkness of the lair towards the kitchen. He needed some water to drink and then he could swiftly return to dreamland. Until then he listened to the quiet of the lair.

That is, it was quiet until he heard a sound very similar to something being dragged...

Slowly, he continued his walk - his eyes nervously shifting back and forth through the pitch black of their home.

Then, there was a thump that made the turtle nearly jump out of his shell.

"Wh-who's there?" he demanded as he turned back and forth. When nothing answered, he began walking towards the kitchen again. The noises started up again after a minute. "This isn't funny, Raph!" he yelled out.

Suddenly, Mikey's left foot kicked into an unseen object on the floor and something quickly fell on his foot and caught onto him.

"THE MONSTER'S GOT ME!" he screamed in sudden terror before running like crazy into the kitchen where he widened his eyes as a small hovering light illuminated through the darkness.

He tried to stop himself, but he couldn't. "Poltergeist! It's a--"

The light was turned on Mikey just as the orange-clad turtle could make out the little turtle carrying the flashlight.

Luckily, Mikey stopped and looked down at the little turtle. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "Hiro?" he asked.

Grunting as he rolled his silver eyes, Hirosaka bent over and picked up the carrots he had dropped when Mikey had screamed. "You scare mes, Mikes!" he exclaimed.

Mikey shook his head and looked at the turtle. "What are you doing up?" he groaned as he looked down at the multitude of large, raw carrots in the child's arms. "And don't you dare say that it's a midnight snack..."

Sighing, Hiro looked up at his older brother. "Me wunted ta see if two Essner Babbits or one..." he stated sadly. "I confused..."

Blinking, Mikey thought back. "I always thought there was only one..." he stated before shaking his head and getting down on one knee and placed a gentle hand on his little brother's shoulder. "It's okay, Hiro - I know that you're excited about the Easter Bunny--"

"Babbit," Hiro corrected him.

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Of course... But you know that he...they... umm... Won't come if you're awake - just like Santa."

The little turtle shook his head. "I gonna go ta bed - but gots to put outs carrots firsts!"

"Okay..." Mikey sighed - now he'd have to nibble on carrots before Hiro woke up...

They got up and headed towards the living room - Hiro's flashlight acting as a guide.

Slowly, an overturned laundry basket and a small iron pipe - no doubt from Don's 'collection' - became apparent.

Hiro groaned. "Knocked over, Mikes!" he snapped at his brother before running over to his own invention and lifting the basket up and positioning the pipe to hold it up just high enough for something very small to fit under it. He then pushed the carrots next to the part that rested soundly against the floor.

Slowly, it began to make sense in Mikey's head. He slapped himself in the forehead. "Hiro, you can't catch the Easter Bunny--"

"Babbit!" Hiro corrected him yet again.

"What about other kids like Shadow?" Mikey asked. "If you keep the Easter Bun- Bab... Rabbit then no one else will get their Easter goodies!"

"That's how knows if two or one!" he exclaimed. "Efry one else have summtin den two - only me, one!"

Mikey rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "But that's mean, Hiro..." Mikey stated.

Hiro frowned. "Jus wanna know..."

Quickly thinking, Mikey bent over and pulled the basket up and accidentally knocked the pipe over. He then grabbed the carrots and headed towards the coffee table in the center of the living room.

Picking up two of the carrots, he placed one at one end of the table and the second on the other end. He then backed away and sat on his haunches next to Hiro.

"Now here's how you'll know, squirt," he started to explain. "If one of the carrots is eaten on there's only one, if both of the carrots then two..."

Hiro gave a wide grin and then hugged his brother. "You the greatest, Mikes!" he exclaimed.

Mikey rubbed the back of his neck and looked down to his baby brother. "I am, aren't I?" he asked with a laugh. "C'mon, kiddo - get into bed before ya scare away Peter--"

"'N Cottontail, Mikes!" Hiro yawned as his brother scooped him up and headed towards the bedrooms.

The turtle blinked. "I thought..." he shook his head. "Never mind..."

&&&&&&

Raph smirked as he rubbed his eye. "Go on, Kid," he said to his brother.

Immediately, Hiro shot into Leonardo's room just like he had everyone else already. He flew onto the oldest turtle's bed and began jumping up and down. Leo's eyes shot open in a sleepy wonder.

"WAKE UP, YEO! ESSNER! WAKE UP, YEO! ESSNER!" the kid chanted as he ultimately dove onto the turtle's chest and nearly knocked the wind out of the leader. He hugged his brother and giggled. "C'MON, YEO! ESSNER!"

"I see that..." Leo moaned before sitting up and knocking the covers off of himself. He turned and sat on the side of his bed and rubbed his eyes.

Hiro jumped over next to his brother. "Oops! Wake yous up, Yeo?" he said sarcastically.

Leo grinned before pushing Hiro over onto the bed. He then looked over to Raph and Mikey who were laughing at the leader as they sleepily rubbed their own eyes.

"I hate you guys..." Leo joked before getting up and heading out of the room.

"Wait on mes!" Hiro commanded as he struggled to esscape from Leo's covers that had twisted around him.

Leo grinned at his brother playfully as Hiro leaped to the floor. He turned off the bedroom light and started walking away.

"Not funns!" Hiro growled angrily as he ran after the three of them.

Once they had reached downstairs, it only took Hiro a few minutes to see the big, green Easter basket waiting on him next to the coffee table.

"Da Babbit's been here! The Babbits!" he exclaimed as he ran towards the coffee table and pulled down the basket along with all its goodies.

"Why did I have to eat two of dose stupid carrots?" Raph grumbled in a quiet voice so that the other three turtles could hear him and Hiro could not. "They both tasted horrible!"

Mikey shrugged. "I would've been fine with ya eating one," he stated. He then pointed his thumb to Don. "But Mister Know-it-all had to go and tell Hiro there are two of da lil' buggers..."

Don sheepishly smirked. "I didn't know he already asked Raph the same question! But really, in the song--"

"Yeah, well they made a movie wit jus one - and movies are better dan any stupid song!" Raph grumbled.

Leo blinked. "Did I miss something when I went on patrol last night?"

"Yes," all three groaned at once.

Hiro climbed up onto the couch next to Splinter and smirked. "I glad there's two Essner Babbits, Sensay!" he exclaimed.

Splinter smiled kindly back. "I am glad you do, Hirosaka..." he stated softly.

"But dey didn't gets uthers nottin'..." Hiro said sadly. "Why?"

Chuckling, Splinter hugged his youngest son. "They are too old - you will be getting gifts for some time, now..."

"Good!" Hiro stated. "I like presents!"

Slowly, LeatherHead came out of the kitchen. "Anyone in favor of some Easter cookies?" he asked as he held out the tray of sugar cookies with pictures of rabbits on them.

"Oh! Oh! ME! ME!!" Mikey exclaimed before running over to the big croc.

"I love Essner! Hiro exclaimed as he was handed one of the sugar cookies.

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Turtlefreak121: Umm... Ta da! The end...