HSV - Unexpectedly Expected, Part 2

Staring down at her was a tall, dark haired man. She'd seen him before. If memory served he was another squad leader. Takeo was his name. And not only was pretty tall, he was also pretty tan… and pretty, well, pretty. He had steel blue eyes peering out through his somewhat shaggy hair. His muscles, which could be seen due to his sleeveless outfit, were just the right size for his body type. Behind the winter scarf he wore you could tell he had strong chin, not broad, but more…

"Uh… are you okay?" His repeated question brought Wolffie out of her blank stare. He held a hand out to help her up and she accepted it. It was unusually warm for someone walking around in the falling snow.

"Yeah, thanks." She blushed faintly at her clumsiness. "Sorry about that. I guess I wasn't paying attention."

Takeo smiled. "It's partially my fault as well. I was reading over the training plans I've made for the Genin team I'm getting here in a few days," he indicated the scroll in his free hand and for the first time Wolffie realized he had yet to release hers, "and wasn't watching either. Call it even?"

"Sure." Wolffie nodded. By now her entire face was flushed.

Finally letting her hand free, he bent over and picked up Wolffie's bags. "You have a Genin squad, don't you? I've seen you before."

This did nothing to help her face.

"You're name's Wolffie, right?" He asked.

She nodded her head in confirmation. "And you're Takeo. Oh, here let me take those." She tried to take the bags from him but he evaded.

"No, no, no. Let me carry them for you. It's the least I can do for knocking you over."  He smiled again. "Which way?"

"It's this way," she pointed. "And thank you." Now that her hands were free she could wrap them around herself. All her clothes were still damp from earlier and the chill was beginning to get to her. She wished she'd bought that scarf now. The wind on her cheeks was icy.

Almost as if Takeo had read her mind, he shifted the brown bags to one arm, unwrapped the scarf from his own neck, and draped it around hers. Tugging it up to cover the bottom part of her face he spoke, "I'm not sure why you're soaked but this should help a bit."

Wolffie was at a loss for words. Who was this guy anyway? Sure, she had heard of him, even seen him around the village before, but really? Who acted like this? His softness did not match what she knew of him.

Takeo was, rumor had it, crazy obsessive about training. If you weren't training you weren't doing much of anything.  There was no way this was the same guy.

Again, as if reading her thoughts Takeo spoke. "Not really what you expected, huh?" He chuckled and nudged Wolffie's shoulder as they continued the trek to her apartment.

"Wh- what do you mean?" The normally sure worded woman stuttered.

He chuckled once more. "You're thinking about all the rumors you've heard about me and how I don't match up." It was voiced matter of fact.

"I… yes." She sighed.

"Don't worry about it. I'm not quite the eccentric personality people say I am." Takeo looked over at her and winked. "Yes, I like to train, but I do enjoy other things, too."

Wolffie raised a skeptical eye. This man was very intriguing. "Such as?"

"Well…" he paused to think, "there's having dinner with friends… challenging Hade to things…reading… you… playing chess…" A list was quickly ticked off using his still free hand.

The brunette girl stopped in her tracks.

"What was that?"  She questioned.

"The dinner part? Or was it the Hade part?" Takeo replied.

Wolffie shook her head side-to-side still a bit stunned. "No. The part after that."

"Oh! Playing chess? Yeah, I'm not too good at it but…" his words were cut off when Wolffie grabbed his arm to stop his walking forward. "Ah, you caught that did you?" His faced flushed even though he was smiling. It was rather adorable.

She didn't say anything in response. All she did was stand next to him, fingers still holding his bare arm, and stare up into his steely eyes. Her whole demeanor was shrouded with confusion. The pair stood there for a long time; her trying to figure him out, and him not wanting to make the first move to scare her off. Finally Takeo couldn't take it anymore and he broke the silence.

"Erm… just forget I said anything! We're almost to your apartment." He turned away from her and nodded toward her home. It was a mere half block away when their feet had halted.

His movement jarred Wolffie awake yet again. "How do you know which one is mine?" her voice was soft and quiet, maybe even a little shy sounding.

The dark haired man slowed his steps to let her catch up to him. "Promise you won't get upset?" It was the first nervous tone he'd used that day.

"Promise." Because she was so curious, she readily agreed.

"Well, I've kind of been watching you, for a while." He admitted quietly. "I came across you training with your team a few weeks ago. I couldn't stop thinking about you so I came back and watched again. You were so great with them… allowing them to grow and learn on their own, but still guiding them at the same time. And then you stayed after them one day to practice your shooting. I just had to know more. Asked around and learned what I could, including where you lived," Takeo confessed. "That and… your girls have been peeking out the window at us." He ended with a glint in his eye.

Wolffie's eyes darted to her window only to see the tops of two of her girl's heads  drop out of sight.

"Kina… Yukiko…" She sighed. Right now she was wishing she'd never given the three ninja an open door policy when it came to her home.

Takeo just laughed. "Let's get you inside. I think you've been out in those damp clothes long enough."

They finished walking toward the foot of the apartment stairs. Wolffie climbed up to the second story with Takeo following close behind. Her home was the corner one and luckily not too far from the outside staircase.

Yukiko's head briefly ruffled the curtain as she peaked out once more before darting down out of sight.

Upon reaching her door, Wolffie turned to thank Takeo one last time as she finally took the brown supply bags from him. "It was nice meeting yo…" Her words got cut off by teenage squeals erupting and the front door being flung open.

In less time than it took for Takeo or Wolffie to respond, Kina and Yukiko had unceremoniously shoved the two older ninja inside and slammed the door behind them.

"Where'd you find this hottie, Sensei?" One called out while the other shouted, "Ohh! He's cute! I think you should keep him." A snore came from the sofa.

Wolffie face-palmed. What were these girls thinking? Here they were in pajamas, ready for a movie night, and they were pawing all over some strange man. Maybe their next training session would be focused on self-restraint…

"Girls. Girls!" She had to yell to get their attention away from the man they had backed into a corner.  Ubume rolled off the couch startled. "Stop that. Here," the supply bags were handed to them. "Take these into the kitchen and get the food ready for the movie."

Pouty faces emerged on all three of her students, though Ubume had no idea why she should be pouting, she did it because her teammates did. With another look from their sensei they trudged into the adjoining room.

Takeo laughed softly. "Well, they've got good teamwork. That's for sure."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Very good teamwork as it turned out.

There was no other way Wolffie could explain why Kina and Ubume were sharing the sofa, Yukiko was sprawled on the floor in front of them, and Takeo and herself were squeezed into the giant recliner together.

There was absolutely no other way.

Takeo had been on his way out the door with plans to meet Wolffie for lunch the next day when the three had returned from the kitchen and had such a fit about him leaving that they convinced him to stay and for Wolffie to let him. Both adults had been hesitant at the idea, especially since they had only formally met less than an hour ago. It was only with matching flushed faces they reluctantly agreed.

And that was how they somehow ended up where they were hours later.

Each of the girls was wrapped up in their own blanket while the two adults had been harangued into sharing one, thus ensuring close proximity. A fire was cracking under the mantle and the television screen flickered with the second film of the night. Bits of pizza, kernels of popcorn, and chip bags littered the living space. Half empty mugs of hot chocolate accompanied the cookie crumbs on the coffee table.

"Some night, eh?" Takeo whispered to his chair companion. He had noticed that all the others had fallen asleep and didn't want to wake them.

"You can say that again," Wolffie murmured as she surveyed the ransacked room. "And I really am sorry that they basically kidnapped you. They're very good when they want to be." She shook her head slightly.

"I think I actually enjoyed it though." He reassured.

"You enjoyed being held against your will?" Wolffie laughed. "Masochist."

Takeo nudged her shoulder. "No. I enjoyed that you seemed to enjoy yourself. I told you before…" his words trailed off.

Silence fell as the brunette was lost in thought. The fire still crackled. Ubume let out a snore. Yukiko kicked her from her position on the floor. Kina sighed. And then the house was quiet.

"You're hard to read," she finally whispered. "I'm normally so skilled at reading people, not with you..."

"You're no easy read either," Takeo slipped his arm around her back. "I mean, look at you. There are weapons hanging on your walls right next to shelves of comics. You are stern with your students but they truly love you."

Wolffie blushed. Guys didn't typically pay her much attention like this. She knew she wasn't a traditional girl and had never cared before. She was never anyone but herself. If guys couldn't handle that, then too bad for them.

"And," Takeo continued, "the way a bow just fits into your hand, it's beautiful."

Hair slipped into her eyes as she ducked her head forward. Pink continued to dust her cheeks.

After another few minutes of silence, Wolffie gathered the courage to speak. "What about you? Tell me something I don't know."

The firelight flickered across her face when Takeo looked down at her. His own face broke into a wide smile, the kind that could make a girl swoon. "Really?"

"Yeah… I think so." She was crossing into unchartered territory. There was something about this man that had her curiosity piqued.

In the blink of an eye Takeo scooped her up from her spot next to him and cuddled her across his lap.

Wolffie squeaked but didn't move away.

"Where to begin?" He laughed softly. "As you already know, I love to train…"

Their conversation went far into the night. They talked about themselves for a time then moved on to several additional topics. Different things were discussed at length while others were only skimmed over. It was an easy feeling being together.

Sometime near the crack of dawn they both fell asleep, still cuddled together.