I'm gonna be pretty busy for the next few weeks because college is starting up, but I'll try to write more and update when I get the chance.

For the next couple of weeks, Hisaki acted different and everyone noticed. Her fighting was distracted and full of mistakes. She spent a lot of time just staring outside, particularly at the moon. Currently, she was sitting in her room. Sighing, Hisaki set down the book she had been reading. She could probably recite it from memory by now.

"Wow, you really must be depressed to be reading that."

Hisaki's head whipped to the side at the voice coming from her window. "Kuronue?" she said, shocked as the Kumori came into her bedroom. "What are you doing here?"

"I need your help," he said seriously. "Youko needs your help."

Hisaki's eyes narrowed into an icy glare. "Why should I help that heartless bastard?" she hissed.

"Because even if you don't realize it, you do care about him," Kuronue said. Hisaki sat down and Kuronue knelt down in front of her. "Whatever you heard that day you left wasn't true. Youko does care about you. He never would use you, despite his perverted attitude."

"It still hurts though," Hisaki said.

"It'll hurt a hell of lot worse if you ignore me and let him die," Kuronue said.

"What happened?" Hisaki asked.

"He went to go meet an informant alone and it was a trap," Kuronue said, running a hand through his hair. "I told that idiot he shoulda brought some people with him."

"And you need me why?" Hisaki asked.

"Most of the men just ignore losses and move on," Kuronue said. "I'm the only one who actually is willing to go rescue him and I can't do it alone."

"Alright," Hisaki said. "But no kidnapping me this time. We're doing this my way. Stay here and no stealing my stuff."

"Awwww," he whined as one of the jeweled necklaces on her dresser caught his eye. Hisaki rolled her eyes, leaving her bedroom.

'I guarantee that necklace will be gone by the time I get back,' she thought, walking through the halls.

Hisaki made her way down to the throne room. As she passed people, they seemed shocked to see the princess had actually left her bedroom. She entered the throne room where the King was talking with Hokushin.

"Father?" Hisaki questioned. They both looked to the vixen. "I would like to leave the palace grounds and go into the woods to fight with the demons there."

"Finally you decide to get out of that room," Raizen said. "I was afraid I'd have to drag you out."

"Apple doesn't fall far from the tree," she called over her shoulder, leaving. Hisaki hurried back to the room, noticing the sapphire necklace was indeed gone. The bored Kumori was lounging on the bed.

"Man, you princesses have comfy beds," Kuronue said.

"One of the perks," Hisaki said, going behind the screen to change. She slipped on a white tube top with a black halter on top of it, fingerless gloves that went around her middle finger and extended up her arm, and black hakama. She grabbed a sword before walking out from behind the screen. "Let's go."

Kuronue picked the vixen up and flew out the window.

"You know anything about the people we're gonna fight?" Hisaki asked.

"Nope," he replied. "Just where they are holding him."

"So we're just gonna go in, kick butt, and drag Youko out?"

"That's my plan."

"Well I now know who does the strategizing," Hisaki muttered. "Whatever, not like I have anything better."

The Kumori landed in the woods. "That's the place," he explained. Hisaki shot him a glare. He never said the two of them were breaking into a fortress. "Hey don't gimme that look. It's big, yeah."

"Hopefully they aren't that strong," Hisaki muttered. Both snuck into the fortress. Hisaki could smell Youko's scent distinctly. "How long ago was he taken?"

"A couple of days," Kuronue said.

"Then his scent is relatively fresh," she said. "I can track him."

"Hey, who're you?" Both demons looked to see two guards. In a flash, one of them was beheaded by Kuronue's scythe.

"Need my help, my ass," Hisaki said as she slammed her foot into the other's face.

"See we make a good team," Kuronue said, slinging his arm over the vixen's shoulders. "Now to our third companion!"

"Say it a bit louder, I don't think the rest of the guards heard us," Hisaki said, rolling her eyes and running after Youko's scent. They both, taking out guards along the way, made their way down to the dungeons where the scent led. A large number of guards were down there.

"Go get him," Kuronue said, swinging his scythe around. "I'll handle them."

Hisaki nodded, burning a line through the group of guards. She ran down the corridor without hassle. All the guards must've been back there. The vixen stopped in front of a cell and saw an unconscious Youko inside. It saddened her to see him in that beaten up condition. She ripped the door off its hinges and knelt in front of him.

"Youko?" Hisaki asked softly. She cradled his face gently in her hands. "Come on, don't you be dead… not yet at least."

"Not yet? That's a comforting notion."

Hisaki chuckled weakly, undoing the cuffs on his wrists and supporting him before he crashed to the ground. "Still have time to make jokes," she said, rolling her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live," he replied.

"Kuronue! I say we get the hell outta here!" Hisaki called out. The aforementioned Kumori demon appeared next to the Kitsune.

"How praetell do we do that?" he asked as the guards came up behind him. "We're surrounded now."

"Like this," Hisaki said, motioning for Kuronue to take Youko. He did so and Hisaki stepped in front of the two.

"Aw, look the little girl is gonna fight," a guards said. Her ears and tail twitched in anger before a cruel smile played upon her lips.

"Ever hear of the human culture of Pompeii?" Hisaki asked as an invisible heat came over her hands. Youko and Kuronue could feel the heat and watched in interest. "They died in a volcanic eruption, not from lava, but a pyroclastic flow. They were dead before they realized it."

"Who cares about how humans die? They die like flies," another guard said. Hisaki's grin widened as she held her hands in front of her, palms facing the guards. There was a bright flash of light.

"Because you're already dead," she said as the guards disintegrated. The heat cause instability in the castle and the whole building shook. Hisaki blasted a hole in the ceiling and Kuronue flew up, carrying Youko. Hisaki jumped through the hole before punching a hole in the wall so they could escape.

"That was pretty badass," Kuronue said to the vixen.

"Badass, but tiring," Hisaki replied. "I may need a nap to regain some energy."

"We'll camp out in the woods then," Kuronue said, "plus I think Youko passed out again."

Hisaki looked to the silver kitsune sleeping in Kuronue's grip and smiled softly.

"That attack really took a lot out of you," Kuronue said, seeing Hisaki wake up from her nap. They had set up camp underneath a large tree in the woods far away from that fortress.

"Well I've never really used it on that scale," Hisaki said, leaning back. Her back hit something softer than a tree. She tilted her head up to see silver and shot forward.

"You hurt my feelings," Youko said smirking. He motioned for his partner to give them some space for a bit. The Kumori complied, going to get some food.

"I should go home," Hisaki said, standing up. "I told father I was only going out to train."

"Hisaki… before when you ran away, why did you do it?" Youko asked.

"You … were using me," Hisaki said. "You manipulated me for your own benefit."

"Where the hell did you hear that?" Youko asked, coming up in front of her. He towered over the petite vixen, being at least a foot taller.

"Some of your thieves said that," Hisaki said. "I... didn't want to be used, so I ran."

Youko embraced Hisaki, wrapping his tail around her hips. He leaned down so his lips were by her ears.

"Stupid girl," he said. "I wondered what you meant that night, but I couldn't figure it out. You are far more than an asset, more valuable than any treasure I've ever laid eyes on."

Hisaki turned red as an unfamiliar emotion assaulted her periphery senses.

"Actually Kurama and I gave a lot of thought to it and we'd like you to join us," Kuronue said, coming back into the clearing with a handful of fish. "You said yourself you felt a thrill from thieving."

"I must admit I have grown attached to you both," Hisaki said, looking down. "But I must go home for a while. I can't just disappear."

Hisaki walked into the thrown room and instantly Raizen's eyes narrowed. "You were out with that thief," he said. "And that thief and his accomplices have broken into the castle more than once. I forbid you from ever associating with them again."

Hisaki's temper flared up, she was never one to be commanded.

"And what if I've befriended them?" she shot back.

"Hisaki, you fool, they are thieves and only want to take," Raizen said. "You are nothing but a tool to them."

"They aren't like that," Hisaki countered. "Why does everyone think they are bad? They've saved my life several times."

Raizen walked up his adoptive daughter, grabbing her chin. "That fox enchanted you," he muttered, more to himself.

"No, I'm perfectly in control of my body and mind right now," Hisaki said, shaking off Raizen's grip. "And I want to be with him and the others. I am leaving whether you like it or not."

"Well then leave now," Raizen said, turning his back to her. "I won't come after you, but you will not get my approval for this. Nor will I hesitate to defend my kingdom from you."

Hisaki's ears and tail fell, but she turned on her heel to walk out. "Goodbye, father."

I'm not the typical writer. I can't just sit down and write one story until it's complete and then start a new one. Like this Youko Romance, for example, I started writing before Past Love, like normally I'm watching or reading the series and think 'hey, I think there could be another character in here...' but I digress. Anyways, I have other stories I've worked on (take the poll on the homepage for my favorites!) And any who've read my quizilla stories would recognize Mika from the Kakashi romance, but it's being revamped from 2nd person pov. Of course my Youko story is my primary focus, but a few moments for the poll on my profile would be appreciated to all Naruto fans who love two badass Sharingan Users of the series, Kakashi and Itachi.